You Are My Hero
by Bakufan15
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has done what felt right. He would put himself in harms way in the name of protecting someone and justice. But what happens when he nearly dies for doing just that? Izuku is injured due to a villan and nearly dies in Ochaco's arms. How does this bring out their feelings? How are they affected by it? IzuOcha. Takes place after Overhaul arc, before the Gentle Arc.
1. Chapter 1

You're My Hero

Really fast intro that you can skip if you want. Just putting in some info and messages. To start off, some of you may know me from my Little Witch Academia fics, and if you're here from that, then welcome! I will be continuing both series in tandem. Secondly, this is a IzuOcha fic. It's practically canon, yet I hardly see it anywhere! I mean, the creator of the show even said that he has plans for development of the relationship in the future. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I have a quick note at the end of the Chapter

* * *

Things weren't supposed to end up this way. Midoriya wasn't supposed to end up like this, on the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

"Help! Somebody! Anybody!" Ochako yelled into the dark alleyway around her, hoping, pleading, that someone could hear her. To her, it had been all a blur.

* * *

She and Izuku had been walking down the streets alone, as Iida had not been able to come with them. They went every saturday down to town to socialize and window shop, it was like a tradition. Though being alone with Izuku made her nervous and awkward, she enjoyed the time alone nonetheless.

They had decided to cut across to the other road by taking the alleyway that split the block. They had been talking and enjoying each other's company so much that they didn't even hear the person come up behind them.

It had happened so fast. The man with the knife, telling Izuku and Ochako to give him their wallets and purses. He threatened to use his quirk on them if they didn't comply. Being the hero that Izuku was, he started to engage his strengthening quirk, expecting to make quick work of the lowly villain.

"Full Co-" Izuku only made it halfway through his words when he cut off, hand pressing against his side in panic. The villain was gone along with Ochako's purse. It was as if they both vanished into thin air. Izuku fell to his knees, clutching his right side, right under his ribs.

"D-Deku?" Ochako said, panicked, rushing to his side.

"He got...me" Izuku said weakly, pulling his hand away to reveal it was covered in blood.

"Deku! What do I do?" Ochako said frantically. Izuku looked impressively calm, but his eyelids started to look heavy, as if gravity were stronger there than anywhere else.

"Deku! Don't fall asleep!" Ochako felt tears tugging at her eyes, "Someone help! There's been a stabbing!" Ochako's voice cracked and she wasn't sure anyone heard her.

"Did I ever tell you…?" Izuku said weakly, falling down on the ground, head resting on Ochako's lap.

"Tell me what, Deku?" Ochako barely kept the tears back seeing her friend in such a bad position.

"How your eyes sparkle?" Izuku passed out with a smile on his face. Ochako stared at him for a moment before realizing what had happened.

"No no no! Deku! Deku wake up!" Ochako tried to shake him awake, but to no avail. She called for help again, tears running down her cheeks.

"Deku…" Ochako said weakly, "Don't you dare leave me! Deku!" Izuku didn't respond, and his breathing was shallow and quick

"Help! Somebody! Anybody!" Was Ochako's last weak plea for help. She just leaned over and put her forehead against Izuku's and let the tears come. She didn't even notice when the paramedics came and tore her away from Izuku.

* * *

The next couple hours were a rush, and Ochako was barely cognizant for the most of it. She remembered riding in the ambulance with Izuku, watching as the paramedics attached him to an IV and bloodbag.

"He's lost a lot of blood!" One of the paramedics said. They also offered to check up on Ochako, but she declined, insisting they focus on Izuku. They got to the hospital and took Izuku on the stretcher straight to the emergency room. Ochako tried to follow, but they took her to another room, where a doctor determined she was in shock. As it wore off, Ochako just became more and more worried. Izuku's last words to her before he passed out kept repeating themselves in Ochako's memory.

Did I ever tell you...how your eyes sparkle? Izuku had said. The words echoed in Ochako's mind, and she couldn't put a finger on why that is what he had chosen to say. After what felt like an eternity, a doctor opened the sliding door to the room she was in.

"Is he okay?" Ochako said immediately, shooting up from the bed.

"He's stable. You can see him if you'd like." Ochako eagerly nodded, following the doctor down the hallway and into Izuku's room. He was laid out on the bed, without a shirt and a large bandage wrapped around his stomach, just above the navel.

"Hey." He said weakly as Ochako walked in. She thought she had mentally prepared herself. She hadn't. As soon as she saw Izuku, sitting on the bed, tears welled up inside her, spilling over onto her cheeks.

"D-Deku…" Ochako said softly, rushing up to the side of the bed and sitting on the chair.

"I'll give you two some privacy." The doctor said, shutting the curtain and door as he left. Ochako sunk into Izuku's shoulder, and he put his hand on the back of her head, stroking it through her hair.

"I'm okay now. That's what matters." Izuku said, trying to comfort her.

"Y-You almost…" Ochako choked up.

"It's alright."

Ochako just sat and cried into Izuku's shoulder, until she was out of tears. Izuku just sat the whole time, rubbing his hand up and down her neck and back.

"All better now?" Izuku joked. Ochako laughed weakly. She removed herself from his arm, sitting upright.

"All better." She said, giving him a weak smile. They sat in silence for a while, until a thought came to mind.

"Hey Deku, what did you mean by the last thing you said to me before you passed out?" Ochako asked tentatively. Izuku had a confused look on his face.

"Last thing I said to you?"

"Yeah"

"I just remember getting stabbed. Everything in between is a blur." He stopped, "What did I say?" I blush rose to Ochako's cheeks.

"O-oh it was n-nothing." Ochako said, "Anyways, what was that guy? He just disappeared from thin air and you were stabbed and my purse was gone!" Ochako tried to clear the tension in the air. Not to mention the fact that she needed to get her mind off of what could have happened and focus on the fact that Izuku was okay now.

"I read about him, actually. I didn't realize who he was until it was too late, though." He forced his palm up against his forehead in frustration and started muttering.

"Deku! Earth to Deku!" Ochako interrupted, pulling him from his muttering.

"Sorry. What I was saying is that they call him 'Timetable'. He's a small time villain with a crazy powerful quirk. He's trying to just do petty crimes just like the one he did to us so that he could keep under the radar. Basically what he does is he is able to create a time bubble around himself. Basically he speeds up time for a small area around him, so he is moving much faster than real time. They way he can stretch time to the point where a full minute inside his bubble is the same as one second outside of it." Izuku explained. Ochako just eyed him, blinking.

"What?" He asked.

"You are such a nerd." She said. Izuku blushed.

"W-what do you mean? I just like to resear-"

"Nerd" Ochako cut him off.

"So what if I'm a nerd?" He responded.

"Nothing. I'm just stating facts. And the fact is that you're a nerd." she teased. It was good to mess around right now. It was something to keep her mind off the darker topics that threatened to seep through. They did anyways.

"Deku...Don't be so rash." Ochako said softly.

"What do you-"

"You could have died, Deku." Ochako looked him in the eyes, "What if you had died?" If Ochako had any more tears to shed, they would've came out then. Izuku looked down in shame.

"I know what I did worried you. I know I act without thinking sometimes, but I couldn't just sit by. I couldn't just let him stand there, breaking the law. Stopping criminals is that heroes are for!" Izuku clenched his fist. Ochako rested her hand on his, trying to comfort him.

"I know I'm not a hero yet, but I can't become one if I ignore stuff like that." Izuku said, looking Ochako in the eyes.

"You're already a hero. In a way." Ochako said, "You're Kouta's hero. You're Eri's hero." Ochako's voice went soft, barely audible, even in the silent room, "You're my hero"

Izuku nearly jumped in the spot at the last three words. He looked into Ochako's eyes, as if he were looking into her soul.

"What do you-"

"You're my hero, Deku." Ochako said, louder this time, "You're my hero. Whenever I'm feeling beaten down, or in a pinch, I think 'What would Deku do here?' and everything turns out alright. You're so brave and care so much about everyone else, even putting your life on the line!" Ochako choked up. Izuku just looked at her in shock.

"I'm your-" he started.

"You're my hero, Deku." She repeated, squeezing his hand, as if to reassure him. Then, amazingly, Izuku smiled.

"I won't let you down, Uraraka!" He said, voice firm and intention clear.

"Thank you, Deku." Ochako said softly, "Just try to not die while I'm around, okay? I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"I'll try not to."

Deku, you're the most important person to me in the world! The words caught in her throat, threatening to break loose. Not now. Can't let either of us get distracted from anything. She scolded herself.

There was a knock on the door. Ochako quickly moved her hand off of Izuku's, blushing, just is Iida stuck his head in the room.

"Hey Iida!" Izuku said, greeting him. As he entered the room, Ochako had expected him to be the only one, but person after person filtered into the room, until every person in class 1-A was present. Izuku was flooded with questions.

As everyone talked, Ochako found her thoughts drifting back to the alleyway, once again.

I was useless in that entire fight Ochako realized. She looked over to the hospital bed Izuku was sitting on, chatting with a few of the other classmates. Instead of letting her emotions get the better of her, Ochako steeled herself.

I will become stronger she commited herself.

Did I ever tell you...how your eyes sparkle?

For Deku She resolved.

"So did you hear what the doctor called Izuku and Uraraka?" Denki asked. There was resound laughter.

"What did he say?" Izuku asked concerned.

"He said, 'Are you Mister Midoriya's friends? He is in there with his girlfriend'" Izuku and Ochako just looked at him for a moment before looking at each other. Their faces turned redder than tomatoes.

"Well they may as well be." Mina added. Ochako's face was so hot from blushing, she felt like if she breathed out, then steam would erupt from her nostrils.

"Now now, let's stop teasing them." All Might said, stepping into the room.

"All Might!" Izuku said, sitting up ever so slightly taller.

"Hey Champ. How's the side?" All might pointed to his side of his body, and a realization dawned over Izuku's face. Then, he burst out laughing, leaving everyone else confused, out of the loop over whatever joke the two were laughing at.

"Anyways…" Ochako said, interrupting the two, "When can Deku leave?" the doctor looked down at his clipboard.

"Looks like he could leave right now so long as he stays careful and doesn't put in any extraneous activity for the next few days. I had to put in seventeen stitches." Izuku sat up from his spot on the hospital bed and set his feet over the edge.

"Can you walk? Do you need someone to support you?" Ochako said, face full of concern.

"No, I think I'm fine." he said, standing up.

"Now, I'll need to see you in a few weeks to remove those stitches." The doctor said. All Might put his hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Doc. We have it covered." With that statement, All Might quickly changed to his muscle form for a brief moment before going back. Realization dawned on the doctor's face, and he realized who he had been dealing with the whole time.

"Class 1-A? From Yuuei?" He asked, incredulous. Everyone nodded. With a gasp, he doctor fainted. Everyone laughed and started to filter out of the room.

"We need a doctor for the doctor!" Tooru joked as she left the room.

As soon as everyone got back to Yuuei, Izuku went to recovery girl and got his cut healed and stitches removed. He stretched, feeling as good as new.

"Ah! Good thing I can still train and go to class! At least we have a weeke-ah!" Izuku jumped when he saw Uraraka waiting outside the door for him.

"You waited around for me?" He said, looking to the clock, "I was in there for at least an hour!"

"I wanted to. I felt like walking with you, I suppose." Uraraka shrugged. Izuku felt butterflies in his stomach. He was used to such whenever he was talking with Uraraka, but it was hard to suppress a blush nonetheless.

As the two walked in relative silence, Izuku's thoughts drifted off.

She waited around for me. She worried about me, and got me help. She cried on my shoulder...she called me her hero… It was a lot to take in, especially since he had been crushing on her for a while, with no inclination that she reciprocate his feelings.

Could she...like me back? Izuku dismissed the thought, She's just my good friend. There's no way he resolved. Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

"Deku?" Uraraka said, catching his attention.

"I'm sorry, what? I must have spaced out." He apologized, small blush forming on his cheeks.

"Thinking about how to track down Timetable?" She guessed. Izuku smiled.

"Yeah I suppose…" Let's go with that, "Anyways, what did you say."

"I was wondering I-if…" She trailed off, seeming to consider her next words, "When do you go training in the morning?" Izuku was taken aback by the question.

"Like my runs and workouts?" He asked, confused. Uraraka nodded eagerly.

"Well," Izuku started, scratching the back of his neck, "I go for a eight to twelve mile run every morning at five thirty, and then sometimes I lift some weights for about fourty five minutes, then sometimes I practice with my quirk for about an hour then go to class. It depends on the day. Why?"

"W-well...I was wondering...if I could start training with you?" Uraraka asked sheepishly. The request once again caught Izuku off guard.

"I guess I don't see why not." Izuku shrugged, "Though I do want to ask why?"

Uraraka blushed slightly, "Well, you see, you're so hard working and strong and It's part of what makes you such a good hero. I think that If I start training with you in the mornings, then I'll get stronger!" It was Izuku's turn to blush now.

"That actually makes sense. I-I'm glad I could be of help?" Izuku could feel the awkwardness in the air. He had a hard time when it came to conversations with Uraraka. She blushed and smiled.

Though it is awkward sometimes, I just feel...at ease when I'm around her. Izuku thought.

"Well, where should I meet you?" Uraraka asked.

"I-I usually leave the dorm at five thirty like I said, and I head down to the beach to run. You can meet my by the exit to the dorms if you'd like."

"Sure, sounds great."

"We'll also have to do a shorter route tomorrow. Even if you are in shape from hero basic training, you can't just skip straight to a half marathon, like I tend to do. We can start you off with four miles tomorrow and I'll run eight. Then weightlifting…" Izuku started another one of his muttering sprees, not paying attention to where he was going. He walked straight by his own room. It was late and everyone was already in bed as well. Uraraka reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Heh. Sorry." He said, walking back to his dorm door, where Uraraka was standing. He was blushing, hoping it wouldn't be seen in the dark.

As Izuku approached, he reached to go open his dorm room door, but was interrupted when Uraraka stepped in front of him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I'm glad you're okay." She said softly, not letting go. Izuku's face was as red as a beet, and he just stood in shock for a moment. Finally, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around Uraraka, returning the hug.

"I am too." He said, smiling, ignoring how hot his face felt. Izuku thought she was going to pull away, but she just kept holding on, squeezing Izuku tightly.

"We should probably go to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow." Izuku reluctantly said, not wanting to let go. Uraraka let go of him, arms dropping to her sides. Her eyes were puffy, but not quite teared up.

"See you tomorrow." He said, reaching for his door handle.

"Goodnight, Deku." Uraraka said, turning to leave.

"Goodnight!" He shut the door behind him, and immediately slouched against the doorframe, sliding to the ground, still blushing profusely.

* * *

Ocahco made it back to her room, shutting the door carefully behind her, before leaning against the doorframe, running her hands through her hair. Her face was still beet red.

I can't believe I hugged him for so long! Did that give me away? Ochako worried, unable to fall asleep, even when she laid down.

Unbeknownst to the trouble that plagued both of them, they stared at the ceiling in their beds, and groaned in unison, "Ugh! What am I going to do!"

* * *

So that's the first chapter! I have a few things to clear up in this author's note, so here it goes! First of all, If you like Little Witch Academia, then go check my other fanfic over there! If you're from over there and reading this fic, then don't worry! I will be updating both of the stories equally! The main reason I'm actually writing this now is that I love Boku No Hero, and I realized I suck at fight scenes. So writing here will not only be fun, but also improve my writing!

A few things to clear up about this story in particular, since it has to do with names. In the actual series, Characters call each other different things, and it can get confusing. For example, Izuku is "Midoriya" To All Might, "Deku" To Bakugo and Uraraka, and "Izuku" To others. Another is that Uraraka is called different things by many different people. So to make things easier, The Characters will be named based on the POV, which will always be either Ochako or Izuku. So when it's an Ochako chapter, She thinks of herself as 'Ochako' so the text would be "Blah Blah Blah" Ochako said. Alternatively, Izuku sees Ochako as Uraraka. So instead of Ochako, it would be Uraraka. I hope that makes sense. The only exception to this rule is that Ochako calls Izuku "Deku", but he'll be refered to as Izuku in the regular text, as to not overuse the nickname. So it would my "Uraraka calls me Deku" Izuku said. I hope all this makes sense. When you're reading it should all be fine. I just wanted to make sure I was clear.

One Final thing! This fic and the LWA one will update on about a weekly basis, since it takes be about 4-5 days to make a chapter most of the time for each, so there will be an update for on of the stories every 4-5 days, and I'll switch off. Okay I'm done! Hope you enjoyed!

* * *

P.S. Don't forget to Review and tell me what you think! I really love to read feedback and want as much as possible! Also, since this is a new story, It would really mean a lot to me if you dropped a follow so i can see how many people want this story to be written out!

* * *

EDIT: I'm stupid and wrote this whole first chapter with saying 'Ochaco' instead of 'Ochako'. I know they're interchangeable, but a lot of the fandom uses the ladder, so I've gone through and changed it!


	2. Chapter 2: Workout

**Workout**

 _So quick note! Thanks for all the support on the first chapter on this series! I love writing it, and I can't wait to keep it going! I realized the entire last chapter I said Uraraka's name as 'Ochaco' instead of 'Ochako' like it's listed on this sit! So I went back and changed it, so it should be all good now!_

 _Anyways, more shenanigans with Izuku and Ochako today! It'll be great! Also,_ _ **Don't forget to review!**_ _Enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Ochako jolted awake when her alarm went off at five o'clock. She just sat in confusion for a moment, not processing why there was a blaring alarm in her ear so early in the morning. Then, she remembered that she was training with Izuku today.

With a groan, she shut off her alarm before laying back down on her bed, breathing out sharply.

 _Can I just-_ She cut herself off mid thought, _No, If I want to become strong like Deku, this is where it starts._ Ochako forced herself out of bed and over to her dresser, and was met with her first real dilema.

Ochako had never really worked out outside of Hero Basic Training. As she looked at her wardrobe, she realized that she really had no idea what to wear.

 _A track suit? But what if I get hot? Maybe a sports bra and shorts then? But it's cold in the morning…_ Ochako mentally argued with herself. Looking over at her clock, it read five fifteen.

"Eek!" Ochako squealed in surprise, not realizing how much time she had sat staring at her clothes. In a panic, she just threw on a sports bra and loose tank top and shorts. She fixed her bedhead, not wanting Izuku to see her in a messy state, before rushing out the door. She went down a floor to the main level, where Izuku was waiting at the entrance to the 1-A dorm.

"Good-" She was interrupted by a yawn, "Morning" she finished.

"Not used to waking up so early, huh?" Izuku teased. Izuku was wearing a simple green and white tracksuit.

"I guess not." Ochako responded, stifling another yawn. There was a moment of awkward silence. Izuku was the one to break it.

"Wanna go?" He said, pointing to the door behind him.

"Sure, yeah."

The two made their way down to the beach nearby in awkward silence, neither knowing what to start a conversation about. Ochako's thoughts drifted, as they tended to do when she was alone with Izuku.

 _I'm really glad he's okay._ She thought. In the time she had been waiting in the doctor's room, so many anxieties had filled her mind, even now that Izuku was perfectly fine, she couldn't help but think about what _could_ have happened. And how she hadn't been able to stop it.

 _That's why I'm here._ Ochako clenched her fist, clearing her mind and choosing to focus on the task at hand.

"Here we are." Izuku said, throwing down his water bottle on the sand right by the steps.

"What's the route? I know you're faster than me and I don't want to drag you down." Ochako asked.

"It's just to the other end of the beach and back. That's four miles. And I'll keep with you until you finish your part. What's the point of working out together if I just leave you behind?"

Ochako felt uneasy, as if she were limiting him, but she wasn't going to tell him no. The more time she could spend with Izuku, the better.

"Okay, I think I'm ready." Ochako said, steeling herself and concentrating on the task ahead of her.

"Okay." And with that, Izuku took off at a light jog. Ochako took a moment to realize that he had started, and rushed to catch up. She fell in beside him, matching his running pace. She spaced her breathing, trying to conserve as much air as possible. She also kept her footsteps at a constant pace, humming a familiar tune in her head.

As she ran, she started to relax, tension in her shoulders and posture disappearing as she ran. Even though she was in close proximity to Izuku, she didn't find herself becoming flustered as she normally did around him. Possibly it was the constant _thud_ of her feet on the sand, or the fact that she was pretty spaced out, lost in thought.

Ochako and Izuku continued to jog, and before they even got to the end of the beach to turn around, Ochako was starting to feel tired.

 _Guess I'm more out of shape than I thought I was…_ she realized as her breaths became sharper, her legs slower. She took the fastest pace she could without turning it into a sprint. They got to the turnaround point, and Ochako was starting to feel the burning in her calves.

By the time they were at the three mile point, she was sweating up a storm, all of her energy focused on making it all the way to the four mile mark. Her lungs were straining and her breaths were shallow, but she was determined to finish it out.

Ochako could see the finish point now, and her lungs were burning. Her calves felt like they were going to fall off, and she was soaked with sweat. She could feel the heat on her face.

When Ochako finally crossed the finish line, she nearly collapsed into the sand, breathing hard. Izuku jogged up next to her, running in place.

"I'm going to do my other four miles. Get some water and don't lay down. Your muscles will cramp up." Izuku didn't even sound winded, and when he turned around, he was going at least twice the speed that he had been going when he was running with Ochako.

 _Wow...Deku is so amazing…_ she thought to herself, forcing herself to stand up. She walked over to the staircase where she dropped her stuff, and realized something.

 _I forgot water!_ She realized with a panic. She was parched and felt like she was going to die if she didn't drink something soon. She looked around, and saw Izuku's water.

"Deku, I hope you don't mind." She panted, reaching over and picking up his water bottle, and taking two long gulps from it.

"Ahh… better." She said, dropping the bottle back to the sand where it was. She then proceeded to walk around in circles with her hands up behind her head to clear her airway and catch her breath.

Izuku made it back from his segment extremely quickly. While Ochako had taken about thirty five minutes to run the four miles, it had taken Izuku a mere twenty-four. And that was after he had already run the four miles with Ochako. Now, he was breathing a little harder, but still not panting like Ochako had.

"More out of shape...than you thought...huh?" He said, walking over to his water bottle. He eyed it, seeing it was only two thirds full.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, "I forgot my water and I was really thirsty." Izuku shrugged.

"It's alright." He paused, putting the water bottle up to his lips and draining the entire thing. "I brought a big one today anyways, and I can refill it before the next part."

"What's next?" Ochako tried to keep her tiredness out of her tone.

"Well, I was going to say weightlifting," He paused, "But then I realized you don't really have to do that, do you? You can change the weight of anything you want, and anything you can't make weightless you can just lighten to where you can carry it." Izuku nearly started a muttering storm, but caught himself, "But for now let's just sit down for a break. You look tired."

"I thought you'd never ask." Ochako groaned, crashing into the sand next to Izuku, taking a much needed rest. Izuku slowly sat down next to her, resting his hand on his knee. As if the sun had been waiting for this moment, it peeked over the horizon, pulling above the distant waves of the ocean.

"Would you look at that." Izuku said, voice distant as he stared at the sunrise.

"It almost seems…" Ochako stopped herself, realizing what she had been about to say. _Romantic…_ the word echoed in her head, and a blush surged to her face. Ochako looked down for a moment and realized that her hand was not even away from Izuku's. She let it stay there, not daring to move it.

Izuku didn't even seem to notice that Ochako trailed off, as if he were lost in his own thoughts.

"This beach is really pretty, don't you think?" Ochako struck up a conversation, "It's amazing that they cleaned it up." Izuku seemed taken off guard by her comment, as it broke him from his suptor.

"Yeah. Actually, the government didn't clean it up. One person did." Ochako laughed, before she realized he wasn't joking.

"No way _one_ person could have cleaned up all that!" She exclaimed, "How long would that have taken?"

"Oh I'd say about...ten months." He said matter-of-factly.

"No way! You're wrong." Ochako looked over and saw Izuku smirking.

"I'm pretty sure I'm right." He had the look on his face like he knew something she didn't.

"After all, I'm the one that cleaned it up." He said. Any inclination of joking was absent from his joke, and Ochako knew he was telling the truth.

"Deku? You cleaned up the beach? How? Why?" She was in disbelief.

"That's a story for another time. But yes. And it took about ten months."

"That's amazing! You really changed this entire part of the city, all by yourself!" Izuku blushed, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"It's really-"

"No that's so cool! So many people use this beach now! People go down to the beach all the time from school!" Ochako jumped up. "I gotta tell everyone!" she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Izuku grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"What?"

"First of all, nobody's awake right now. Secondly..." He trailed off. When he spoke again his voice was softer, "I'd like to keep this under the radar. I only told you because I trust you."

Ochako's breath caught in her throat.

 _He only told me because he trusts me?_ Ochako tried her best to suppress a blush

"Oh." was all she could muster, not trusting her voice after the compliment she just got. Izuku stood up.

Ochako didn't know what came over her. Maybe it was the fact that she had just done it last night, maybe she was feeling a bit risky, but as soon as Izuku was on his feet, Ochako threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

"Thanks for being so amazing, Deku." She said softly into his ear before pulling away. His face was as red as hers felt.

"I-It's really n-nothing." He stuttered out. Ochako laughed a little bit at the awkwardness. There was some silence for a few moments. Izuku looked genuinely shocked by the sudden gesture.

"W-well, what else can we do?" She finally asked, breaking the silence. Izuku shook himself back to reality.

"Well, since you don't really need to weightlift, I guess we could go practice our quirks." Izuku suggested, then frowned, "I don't really know how we would do that together though…"

"We'll see how it goes. Let's just go to the practice field." Ochako said, skipping away, revitalized. Izuku followed behind.

* * *

The entire class of 1-A was sitting in the common room on the third level of the dorm building, chatting and eating a light breakfast. Luckily for them, it was a weekend and they didn't have to worry about any sort of internships or classes.

"Has anyone seen Uraraka this morning?" Tooru asked as she walked into the room. Everyone was used to not seeing Izuku in the morning, but Ochako was a different story.

"She's not in her room?" Tsuyu asked.

"Not from what I saw." Tooru replied, walking over to the coffee table and plopping down on the couch.

"That is odd. Maybe she's visiting family for the weekend?" Kyoka suggested.

"Nope. I see her." Denki said from his seat by the window. He seemed to be looking outside at the ground below them, and he was smirking.

"What? Uraraka never gets up early! What's she doing outside at this hour?" Tsuyu asked, jumping up and walking over to the door.

"Well, she's not alone." Denki said smugly. That caught everyone's attention. Everyone ran up to the tall window and peered out of it, except for Bakugo, who just stayed in his spot, scowling.

"She's with…"

"Izuku?"

"Why is she with Izuku?" Everyone chatted up a storm.

"Are they...dating?"

"Did she finally confess?"

"Did he?" Bakugo started to get annoyed with all of his annoying classmates.

"Would all of you dumbasses stop talking over each other? It's annoying as hell!" He fumed, shutting everyone up, before they all turned to each other and talk in hushed tones.

"Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?" Kirishima asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Maybe it has to do with Izuku being in the hospital yesterday? She was in there with him alone…"

"Guys, look. They're not going to the dorms." Denki said, pointing out the window. Indeed, the two walked away from the entrance to the dorm rooms in the direction of the practice fields.

"Where are they going?"

"Why are they alone?"

"Everyone!" Iida said, stopping all conversation, "You are all overreacting. I'm sure they just went out to do something. It's no big deal. Even if it is romantic, you should all know better than to pry into other people's romantic lives!" Iida scolded them, acting as the police, as he normally did.

Everyone shared sheepish glances with each other, feeling a bit chastised. Then, miraculously, Iida smirked.

"I do admit I am a bit curious however." The rest of the class looked at him in confusion, "What? Am I not allowed to be a little curious?" People nervously laughed, not sure what to do.

"If we're going to do something, can we get to it, instead of skirting around it?" a monotone voice said from the edge of the group. Everyone looked over and noticed that it was Shouto Todoroki who had made the comment. It took a moment for the surprise that even he was interested in the situation to wear off.

"I-I have a plan." Tokoyami said. Eyes turned to him. "Instead of just waiting for us to notice something or following them and invading their privacy, how about we just talk to them?"

"Aww that's no fun!" Tooru protested.

"It is the most respectful way of going about it though." Iida pointed out, rubbing his chin, "I do not know when we would be able to get them alone though…"

"How about the girls wait in Uraraka's dorm and the guys wait in Midoriya's dorm and we talk to them individually when they get back from...whatever they're doing." Ojiro suggested.

"That would work…"

"But that's no fun!" Tooru protested again.

"It is the most logical plan of action." Iida said,humming "Yes, I approve of this plan. This way we can figure out what's going on without invading their privacy!" He seemed to agree more to the plan as he spoke.

"One problem...how do we get in the rooms?" Tsuyu asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

"That isn't a problem." Tokoyami said, "Dark shadow can fit under the crack under the door and pull the handle from the inside."

"Well, it's a plan! We do have some time before they come back, but we definitely need someone on watch duty." Mina said.

"Operation: get Ochako and Izuku to stop avoiding their feelings is a go!"

* * *

Izuku and Uraraka finally made it to the quirk practice field. Initially, Izuku had been worried and nervous about spending so much alone time with Uraraka, but as time went on, he found himself relaxing. Uraraka was one of the few people he felt like he didn't need to put on a face for. He could be himself.

He threw down his recently refilled water bottle on the side and grabbed his new gloves from his bag, slipping them on his hands.

"What are those, Deku?" Uraraka asked.

 _Oh right...nobody except for Mei and All Might know about the gloves_ Izuku realized. _Well, if anyone can keep a secret, it's her. I'll try to not divulge too much._

"Oh umm... these are to help me control something new I've learned about my quirk." Izuku said. Uraraka eyed him.

"What do you mean?" She asked, obviously confused.

 _How do I say this without giving away how my quirk works?_

"Well, it would be easier to show you." Izuku said. That way he could show her without worrying about telling her _how_ he did it.

Izuku channeled the power of One For All through his body, switching on the power. He felt his muscles and body strengthen and then with a flash of green lightning, "Full Cowling!" Whenever he activated full cowling, it felt like he needed to move. He couldn't stand still with all of the energy coursing through his body.

 _There's five percent_ Izuku told himself, then opened the door, letting a little more power through the floodgate, feeling the immense power on the other side. He let the energy disperse in his body, bringing him to eight percent. He could physically feel his muscles swell, causing his previously loose shirt feel tight.

Izuku bounced lightly from one foot to the other, not able to sit still any longer.

 _Okay here it goes._ Izuku thought to himself, holding his hand in a flicking gesture. _Focus. Just a split second. Only let that power for a moment._

Steeling himself, Izuku let a trickle of energy though the boundary once again, and he could feel his body straining for the mere moment her was at twenty percent.

Izuku flicked his finger, and forced the excess energy back away from his body.

In front of him, the wind surged, letting a blast of solid air fly from his hand, soaring across the field at hundreds of miles per hour. Izuku could see the grass flatten against the strong force, and the trees at the end of the field swayed.

The wind pressure calmed, and when he turned to Uraraka, she had a shocked expression and windswept hair.

"Deku...that was…" Uraraka started. She seemed unable to shake the shock, "That was so cool!"

Izuku laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "I only just learned to do it. It's mainly what I've been practicing. The problem is not destroying my finger by using too much energy."

"You just get more and more amazing, Deku!" Uraraka praised. A blushed surged to his cheeks, and he could swear he saw the same thing on her face before he turned away.

"Anyways, I don't really know what you do to practice your quirk." Izuku admitted.

"Well, I can do a few things. By conditioning, I can increase the weight limit and the amount of time I can keep something floating. There is something I've been working on, though." Uraraka said, "But it's a work in progress, so don't judge it too hard."

"I won't, I promise. What is it?"

"Here, let me show you." Uraraka walked over to Izuku's bag and picked up his water bottle. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, with a flsah, the water bottle was enveloped in a pink glow. When Uraraka let go of the water bottle, instead of falling to the ground or staying in the air like he had expected, the bottle flew. Straight up.

Izuku's mouth fell open, shocked at what he had just seen. Uraraka looked like she was really concentrating, and she was gritting her teeth. The bottle continued to accelerate into the sky, and after a while, Uraraka touched her fingers together.

"Release!" She said, letting out a held up breath. The bottle slowed down before reversing course and plummeting back to the ground.

"Uraraka! That was amazing!" Izuku praised, "What did you do?" Uraraka took her hands off her knees and looked up. Whatever it was, it had tired her out.

"The first time I did it, it was actually an accident. I can already make something weightless, or reduce its weight by a certain amount. So my quirk isn't exactly Zero Gravity, but more like gravity manipulation." Uraraka started.

"And?" Uraraka shot him a glare.

"I'm getting to it, dummy!" She chastised. Izuku felt a blush creep onto his cheeks.

"Sorry." He apologized. Uraraka just continued.

"So one day I was sitting in my room, and I was messing around on my phone. I wasn't really paying attention, and I was thinking about my quirk. It kind of just happened. One second my phone was in my hand, the next it was on the ceiling. I released it and was immediately as tired as if I had lifted an entire boulder with my quirk." Uraraka explained.

"So you can change the _direction of gravity_ on things?" Izuku thought, astounded, "That's so powerful!" Izuku praised. This time, it was Uraraka's turn to blush.

 _Why is she getting flustered?_ Isuku thought, bewildered by her reaction.

"T-thanks but it's not really that good yet. I can barely maintain it." She said.

"Well, that's what practice is for." An idea popped into Izuku's head, and his eyes widened. "I know! Make me fall into the wall!"

"W-What?" Uraraka exclaimed.

"I said make me fall into that wall! Change my gravity! It'll help you practice, right?" Izuku suggested, excited at a chance to help Uraraka.

"Are you sure? What if you get hurt?"

"I'm sure! Come on!" Reluctantly, Uraraka walked up to Izuku. She closed her eyes again and placed her hand on Izuku's chest.

Izuku was initially taken aback by how close she was, and how borderline intimate the action was. His breath caught in his throat before he was enveloped in a pink glow. Izuku felt a surge of vertigo as he was no longer pulled down to earth, but rather flew straight towards the wall of the building next to him.

If Izuku hadn't been so flustered, he probably could have gotten his feet under him. Because he had been distracted however, he smacked right into the wall.

"Deku!" He heard Uraraka squeal. Because she had lost focus, gravity reasserted itself, causing Izuku to fall again, landing flat on his back on the grass.

"Ouch" He groaned as Uraraka rushed over, looking over him.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She had genuine concern in her tone.

"I'm alright, don't worry." He said, sitting up. He stood with some assistance from Uraraka, and when he got on his feet, she was literally inches from his face.

Izuku stood still fo a moment, frozen, not thinking. Uraraka took a step back, face as red as a tomato, and Izuku felt as if his was the same way.

"L-let's t-try that again." He stuttered out.

"Are you sure? You hit that wall pretty hard." Uraraka wanted to confirm.

"Yeah, I've had worse. Let's do it again. See how long you can hold it for." Uraraka walked up to him once again and placed her hand on his chest. A moment later, he was surrounded in a pink glow and started to fall towards the wall. This time, he was ready and got his feet below him. He stood up. On the wall.

"This is weird…" He muttered, looking at his surroundings. To him, Uraraka was standing on the wall, and if he stepped off the edge of the wall, he would be falling off a cliff. He saw Uraraka concentrating on keeping gravity defied.

Carefully, Izuku started to walk around on the wall, and it felt as normal as if he was walking on a sidewalk. He walked up the side of the building, getting higher and higher up. He didn't notice the pink glow fade.

Izuku gasped as gravity regained dominance and he started to fall towards the ground.

"Aah!" He yelled, panicking for a moment. He didn't have time to activate a full cowling, but he didn't feel like he needed to. The ground was coming to meet him quickly.

"Deku!" Uraraka cried. Her voice in his mind steeled his demeanor, allowing him to focus. He opened the gate, allowing the energy for ar twenty percent attack flow through his body, arriving at his fingertip. He flicked, and a blast of wind surged, hitting the ground and slowing his fall. The air blasted out in all directions from his landing point, but it slowed down his fall enough so that when he smacked into the ground, he at least didn't break anything.

Izuku just laid down on the grass for a moment, not wanting to get up. Even though he wasn't injured, it didn't mean smacking the ground with his face didn't hurt. He groaned, forcing himself up into a sitting position. He looked around the field around him for Uraraka, and when he finally spotted her, she was at least a hundred yards across the field.

 _Oh...the wind blast_ Izuku realized. He must have blasted her away with his flick meant to save himself. That fact was even more evidenced by the fact that her hair was a mess and her top was rowdy, showing much more of her stomach than she usually did.

Izuku blushed looking down at the grass right next to him.

"Deku! Are you okay?" Uraraka said, once again concerned for his well being.

 _She's so caring..._ Izuku thought to himself. Yet another thing to admire about her.

"Yeah I'm good." He said. Looking her in the eyes. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. She looked exhausted.

"You look tired. What about we go back to the dorms." Izuku suggested. Uraraka visibly relaxed.

"I really need a nap…" She muttered as they started their walk back to the class 1-A dorm rooms.

"You look like it. It'll get better. The first week or so sucks and then it's not so bad."

"Good, because if I was this tired every day, I would never be awake for class." Uraraka joked, getting a hearty laugh from Izuku. The two walked, chatting, and even a little subtle flirting, back to the dorm building.

They arrived at the building and took the stairs to the second floor, where they parted ways with another quick hug initiated by Uraraka. Although Izuku felt awkward every time, he really enjoyed the hugs she gave him. It allowed him to be close to her, and he was happy and didn't want to pull away every time. He walked up to his door and unlocked it with his room key.

When Izuku opened the door, inside was a huge group of people lounging around.

"Uhh...hey guys? What's up? How did you get in my room?" Izuku asked, flustered at the fact that everyone was in his room, some even looking at his All Might shrine. Every guy from class 1-A was present except for Kacchan.

"We're having an intervention." Iida said.

* * *

Ochako pulled away from the hug reluctantly. Every time she hugged Izuku, she was left wanting more. She just barely held herself back from pulling him tight and not letting go. Her feelings for the young boy were starting to become unbearable, even to the point where she was considering acting on it.

 _But I can't let either of us get distracted_ She thought to herself, before groaning.

 _But I can't go on like this either!_ Ochako barely kept in a yell of frustration. She needed time alone to compose her thoughts and pick a path of action.

Ochako made it to the fourth floor and walked to her dorm room at the end of the hall. She was sweaty and tired and gross and just wanted a nap. She was surprised to see that her door was already unlocked when she turned the key on the door.

Ochako carefully opened the door, to be met with five people in her room. The five other girls of class 1-A were sitting in her room, looking at her.

"Eek! What are you all doing in my room?" She squealed, jumping.

"We're having an intervention" Tsuyu said.

* * *

 _There's that! A bit of a long one, huh? Yeah I got a bit carried away. I really enjoyed watching that, and I promise we will get to some actual relationship stuff soon! It won't take nearly as long as it normally takes me! I think they'll be together by chapter five, so yeah. See ya in the next one!_

 _P.S. my LWA fic is getting the next update, I promise! I just kinda finished this one sooner, so yeah._

 _ **P.P.S. Please review! I really want some feedback on this chapter and I respond to every review! So if all you you lovely people that want to see me get better could drop a review, It would be so amazing! Thanks so much!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Intervention

**Intervention**

 _Hey everyone! Thanks for all the support so far! Just a heads up for anyone that didn't know, but for those of you reading on FFN, it is also cross posted on AO3 and vice versa. ANYWAYS,_ _ **Don't forget to drop a review and comment please!**_ _Enjoy the chapter._

* * *

"We're having an intervention." Iida said from Izuku's bed.

"W-what for?" Izuku asked nervously. He really had no idea what the reasoning could be for the half of class 1-A to be in his room.

"I guess we should start it like this." Shouto interrupted, "Are you and Uraraka dating?"

It took a moment for Izuku to process what Shouto had just asked, and when he did, his face flared red.

"W-what do y-you guys m-m-mean?" Izuku stuttered out, covering his face.

"Are you in a romantic relationship with Ochako Uraraka?" Tokoyami said plainly.

"What? No!" Izuku blurted out. The rest of the class looked at each other like they were having a silent conversation. Then they all turned back to Izuku and Kirishima spoke up.

"Well, why aren't you?" He questioned.

Izuku shut the door behind him as he slumped up against it, unbelievably embarrassed.

"What do y-you mean why not?" Izuku was so flustered he basically couldn't understand a regular conversation.

"Let's be honest, Midoriya." Denki started, "It's obvious you have a thing for Uraraka."

"I-"

"Don't even try to deny it." Everyone said at the same time. Izuku looked at all of them individually, and sighed in defeat.

"You caught me." He admitted. Even though he had been dreading anyone figuring out his crush, as soon as he said the words, it felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He let out a deep breath. It had been a long while of keeping his confused feelings to himself, and now it was as if that nervousness had just disappeared.

"I didn't actually believe that he was going to admit it, to be honest." Denki said after they recovered from their shock.

"So? I have a thing for Uraraka! Is that all this was about? To get me to say it?" Izuku was obviously still confused as to the reasoning behind the 'intervention'

"So? Are you going to do anything about it? Also, what were you two doing alone this morning?" Kirishima asked.

"First of all, she actually wanted to work out this morning. She said she wants to get stronger." Izuku was interrupted by a wave of 'ooh's' from the group, and he scowled at them, "But I don't think I want to do anything about it. I can't risk getting distracted from our studies! Plus, she probably doesn't like me back" Izuku muttered.

"Izuku." This time, it was Iida speaking. He walked over and put a hand on Izuku's shoulders.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush." Iida continued, "Grow a pair."

Izuku stared at Iida for a moment, not realizing what he was saying, until he finally got it.

"I-I-I" Izuku was too flustered to form a coherent statement.  
"Guys, I think it's time we spare him from his misery." Tokoyami suggested. The group nodded and started to leave, leaving Izuku to stand alone in the middle of his floor, still shocked at what had just transpired.

As Iida was about to leave, he put a hand on Izuku's shoulder once again. "Just think about it. You like her, there's no point in not asking her out. Sometimes you have to have some fun. I want to see you have a fun time sometimes. As your friend. Who knows, she probably likes you back. I've seen the way she acts around you." With that, Iida left and Izuku was alone once more.

He slumped to the ground with a groan.

 _What am I going to do?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Ochako was trying to run away from her problems, but Momo had barricaded the door.

"Ochako! Talk to us!" Mina protested.

"No!" Ochako changed gravity on herself and fell to the ceiling. She scrambled over to the corner and sat on top of the dresser, trying to hide even though she was in plain sight of all the girls in the room.

"Ochako! It's just a harmless conversation! We won't even tell anyone!" Ochako just shook her head. She knew her cheeks were flaming red and didn't want to embarrass herself anymore.

The instant Ochako had asked what they were doing in her room, Tsuyu had said "We wanted to ask you about Midoriya". That had been enough to throw her into a embarrassed fit and she had tried to escape.

 _Now is the time when I wish I had a more destructive quirk. I could blast my way out._

"Ochako, we're not leaving until you talk to us." Toru said from her bed.

"I don't wanna…" Ochako grumbled.

"Okay, we'll just talk _to_ you then." Tsuyu surmised, "So what were you and Midoriya doing out alone this morning, hmm?"

It took a second for Ochako to realize what she was implying, but when she did her cheeks flared to life once again.

"No no no! It's not like that!" Ochako shook her head so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, "We were just doing a morning workout!"

"Ochako, you literally wake up less than an hour before class starts." Mina said blankly.

"It's the truth!" Ochako protested.

"Why were you up so early doing a workout then?" Kyoka asked smugly.

"I want to become stronger! Deku is always so strong," Ochako was rambling before she even realized how big of a hole she was digging herself, "He's strong because he works hard and everything! I want to get stronger! Just like…"

"Just like Deku, right?" Tsuyu finished. Ochako looked down at all her friends from on top of the dresser.

 _Well….I just dug myself a hole…_ Ochako blushed and took a deep breath.

"Okay fine!" She practically shouted, "I like Deku!" When the words left her mouth, she didn't know if she regretted it or was happy she finally got it off her chest. The second she finished, there was a choir full of squeals from all the other girls in the room. Ochako buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"Eek! I can't believe we got her to admit it!" Toru squeaked, squirming.

"It's not like we didn't already know it." Kyoka pointed out.

"Wait you guys already knew?" Ochako asked, confused.

"Well, duh!" Mina said, "You're not exactly very secretive about it. The way you always talk about him or you always hang around him. The entire class knows about it by now."

"Well, except for Midoriya." Tsuyu added.

"Yeah, he's pretty dense." Momo said, "Well, girls, I think we've given her enough to think about. Let's let her rest."

"Aww! Party pooper…" Toru complained as she walked for the door with everyone else. Just before she left, Tsuyu looked up at Ochako on top of her dresser. She was gently staring off, deep in thought.

"Ochako." Tsuyu got her attention, "Go for it. You won't be holding him back. He even needs the extra fun sometimes. Be courageous. You might have to take the first step. Midoriya is too awkward sometimes." and with that, Ochako was alone in her room, left to think about what she was going to do.

* * *

The next few days were amazing and awkward at the same time for both Izuku and Ochako. They still hung out, but there was a mix of awkward tension, but also relaxation at the same time. Having gotten their feelings off their chests, it was finally like Izuku could talk to her without getting as flustered as normal. Like accepting his feelings had lessened the burden.

Not to mention that Izuku and Ochako were both actively contemplating how to ask the other one out.

They went on another morning workout on Sunday. Izuku had spent time to make a workout plan for Ochako just like All Might had for him, but it was far less intense. It mostly involved a diet and workout times. Ochako was grateful for all the help he was showing her.

When monday rolled around, Izuku was exhausted. Between working out as normal and practicing his long range attacks every morning, and long nights thinking about and texting Ochako, he wasn't getting much sleep. Not to mention that he had spent his entire sunday afternoon with Mirio, visiting Eri once again.

Now, Izuku was sitting in homeroom, waiting for class to start. Everyone was in their little cliques, and that included Izuku. He was sitting alone with Iida and Uraraka, talking about their homework that was due the next week. As usual, Izuku was ahead and had already finished it, but Uraraka was caught up on part of it.

"You see, here you first need to take the derivative. You can test for whether a function is decreasing or increasing based on whether the first derivative is positive or negative at a certain point." Izuku tried to explain.

"Ugh! I hate calculus!" Uraraka complained, "How do I take this derivative?" she pointed to a set of functions on the sheet.

"Well it's a product rule, so first you-" He was cut off by Aizawa walking into the room.

"In your seats." He grumbled.

"I'll show you later." Izuku promised, walking over to his seat with a smile. The entire class just stood and looked at Aizawa for a moment before he finally decided to talk.

"Good morning. I was told I have to tell you about the next tournament the school is holding."

"Tournament?" The entire class yelled.

"Yes. It's a tournament similar to the final event of the sports festival, except with only the hero courses." Aizawa finished once the class quieted down, "The rules are the same thing. It will be seperated into a class 1-A bracket and a 1-B bracked and the winner of the brackets will face off for the championship."

"I'm so gonna win!" Kirishima called out.

"No you aren't, stupid hair! I will take the indisputable first place this time!" Bakugo yelled to the entire class, glaring at Shouto.

"There is one more thing." Aizawa interrupted. He pulled out a small hat full of tiny slips of paper.

"This time, it will be two versus two. I have the names of everyone in this class here. I will choose random teams. The point of this exercise is to teach you how to work together with other pro heros that will be out on the field."

"First team!" He said reaching into the bag. He pulled out two slips of paper. "Aoyama and Jiro."

"Oh come on!" Kyoka protested quietly. Apparently Aizawa heard.

"You will not have any control over who you need to work with in the field, so this is what you get, like it or not." Aizawa scolded, pulling another slip from his hat of goodies.

"Mina and Kirishima!"

"Koda and Sato!"

"Tsuyu and Kaminari!"

"Shoji and Mineta!" By now, Izuku was holding his breath, wondering who he would get paired with.

"Sero and Bakugo!"

Izuku let out a breath. At least he didn't have to deal with Kacchan for now.

"Todoroki and Tokoyami!"

 _That's a powerful pair…_ Izuku made a mental note.

"Yaoyorozu and Tooru!"

 _That leaves four. Odds are I get pair up with Iida or..._ Izuku blushed at the thought, yet was excited at the prospect _or Uraraka…_

"Ojiro and Iida!" Izuku let out a pent up breath.

"That leaves Midoriya and Uraraka. That is all. Tournament matches start thursday and go all weekend."

As soon as class was dismissed, the room exploded with chatter. Izuku's head shot across the room and looked directly at Uraraka, who met his eyes. Izuku rushed over.

"We're partners, Deku! Isn't it great!" Uraraka cheered.

"Yeah…" Izuku blushed.

"Why did the stupid lovebirds get paired together. Ugh so annoying!" Bakugo complained. Heads turned towards Izuku and Uraraka, who both turned away from each other blushing.

"That's not like how it is!" Izuku said, waving his arms around.

 _This is going to be a crazy week…_

* * *

Ochako went through the rest of the day with her thoughts filled with how this dou's tournament was going to play out. The entire class had been dismissed for the rest of the days leading up to the tournament, in order to give time to prepare synergies and cooperation.

Initially, Bakugo had not been very pleased with the fact that he would have to "Share the spotlight" in his words. The rest of the class was already out on the practice fields, figuring out what types of combos they could come up with.

Ochako and Izuku, on the other hand, were sitting in Izuku's room, analyzing the competition. They were making detailed hero book pages for each team, writing out specific strategies they could use and what possible counters they needed to be prepared for. While Ochako had been initially excited to go practice something more practical, Izuku had insisted on this first, so Ochako went with it. Whatever she could do to get stronger is what she would do. Also, she got to be alone with Izuku for an extended period of time, which made her heart flutter.

"Based on the tournament sheet that Aizawa gave us, we'll be up against Yaoyorozu and Toru first. The other rounds are Kaminari and Tsuyu versus Aoyama and Jiro. Then it's Sato and Koda versus Sero and Kacchan, then it's Todoroki and Tokoyami versus IIda and Ojiro, then Kirishima and Mina versus Shoji and Mineta…" Izuku started to mutter up a storm.

"Deku!" Ochako tried to reel him back into reality, to no avail.

"Based just on predictions, the winners in Kaminari and Tsuyu versus Aoyama versus Jiro will most likely be Kaminari and Tsuyu. The other team really has no way to deal with Kaminari hardening. Not to mention Tsuyu's mobility."

"Deku!" Ochako tried again.

"Then no offence to them, but Sato and Koda really have no chance versus Sero and Kacchan. Then I'd say the other winners are Todoroki and Tokoyami, and Kirishima and Mina. That means if we win, then we would be going up against Kaminari and Tsu first." Izuku just kept going, no regard to how far off he was getting.

"Ugh." Ochako groaned, pressing her fingers against Izuku's arm. He was enveloped in a pink glow, and immediately fell towards the ceiling, smacking right into the roof.

"Aah!" Izuku shouted, hitting the roof with his head.

 _At least I got him back to the world of reality…_

"Sorry. You were muttering and wouldn't stop." Izuku stayed laying on the ceiling, grumbling.

"Sorry. I just really get into this stuff." Izuku grumbled.

"It's okay. For now can we just focus on winning our _first_ match?"

"Okay." Izuku conceded, "Can I get off the ceiling now?"

"Oh sorry!" Ochako pressed her finger tips together, and Izuku fell off the ceiling with a thud. Normally, Ochako would feel bad, but for some reason right now it was just funny.

 _Maybe it's just that I've spent so much one-on-one time with him these last three days that I've gotten more comfortable?_ Ochako shook the thoughts away. She was still getting constantly pressured by the rest of the girls to confess her feelings, but every time she started to prepare herself to, either someone walked in and intruded or she wimped out.

Izuku pulled himself off the ground and sat himself down back in his seat, pulling out an empty sheet of paper from his hero notebook.

 _I'm alone with Deku…_ Ochako realized, _In his room_. A blush surged to her face before she knew it.

 _I could tell him right now, and there's nobody to intrude…_ Ochako thought, _No, we're here to prepare for thursday._

"Okay so, here's something I thought of." Izuku started.

"Oh no. That's never a good thing." Ochako teased. A blush flashed on Izuku's face, but quickly receded.

"Haha. So funny." He said, expression flat at her joke, "Anyways, the rules are that one of an entire team has to be either unable to move or out of bounds. Once one member leaves the arena, then they cannot come back in." Izuku explained.

"So what do you think they're going to try to do?"

"It has to be something relying on Yaoyorozu quirk as Toru's invisibility would not be very powerful on its own. And the bigger and more complicated something is to make, the longer it takes to make." Izuku hummed, placing his hand on his chin.

 _He looks so cute like-_ Ochako interrupted her fawning when a thought struck her mind.

"Wait! I got it!" Izuku interrupted his thinking, turning to Ochako, waiting.

"So what if they use Toru's invisibility to try to distract us or do something while Momo makes something that will win the match for them?" Ochako explained. Izuku slowly nodded his head, expression brightening.

"And not to mention, we couldn't win if we couldn't see Toru. So we need a way to see her first and foremost." Izuku said, then jumped upright in his seat, "I've got it! Let's go to the practice field! The dirt one specifically!"

He got up and rushed out of the door, not even realizing that he had left Ochako in his room alone. Ochako got up to chase him out of the door, but a small sound caught her attention as she reached for the handle.

" _I am here!_ " All Might's voice said with a small buzz. Ochako whipped her head around to see that Izuku had left his phone sitting on the desk in his rush to get out to the field.

Ochako snickered at the text tone, thinking about how much it screamed 'Deku'. She reached over, and her hand stopped above the phone.

 _Is this a breach of his privacy?_ She questioned herself, _No, I'm just giving him his phone he left_ she decided.

When Ochako picked up the cell phone, the screen showed the text he had just received. Ochako forced her eyes away, not wanting to intrude on whatever conversation Izuku had been having with someone.

Ochako walked for the door, knowing she would have to rush to catch up to Izuku, that he hadn't even noticed he left her behind. Ochako's hand reached for the handle, but she stopped herself again.

 _I'm sure one look won't hurt…_ she rationalized. Hands slightly shaking at how 'bad girl' she was being, Ochako looked at the phone screen. The background was a large picture of Izuku with All Might, but more importantly, he had a text from Kirishima.

Ochako's breath stopped in her throat when she saw what the message read.

- _When you gonna ask the girl out, Midoriya?_

A torrent of thoughts raced through Ochako's mind when she read the text.

 _What girl?_

 _Who is he going to ask out?_

 _Could it be….me?_

Ochako shook her head violently, her breath starting to accelerate in pace. Her thumb trembled over the 'Reply' button. Did she dare? It was a breach of his privacy even to read the text!

 _But…_ Ochako reasoned, _I could know who Izuku likes._ Ochako shook the thought, hand moving to pocket the phone. She had gone far enough.

Ochako reached for the door handle once more, but like the last couple times, her hand froze.

 _I could solve all my problems, right now_ She thought. With a groan, Ochako pulled the phone back out of her pocket, and hastily clicked the reply button. With shaky hands, it took her way longer to respond than it should have.

- _Who?_ She hit send before she gave herself time to reconsider.

Ochako couldn't breathe as she saw the tell-tale set of three gray dots, signifying that the red haired student was typing back.

After what felt like an eternity, the reply finally came.

- _Don't play dumb with me Midoriya! You know how I'm talking about! Uraraka!_

Ochako repressed a squeal when she saw the reply, dropping the phone in surprise. Ochako felt like she was having a muttering spree, except for in her head.

 _Oh my God!_

 _Oh my God! Deku L-likes me?_

 _WHAT_

Ochako was basically in denial. She was ripped from her panic by the phone buzzing on her phone once more. Entire arm shaking with a combination of shock and joy, Ochako picked back up the phone.

- _I mean, Bakugo made a bet that you wouldn't confess by the end of the week. Don't make me lost money!_

Ochako let out a shaky laugh. It seemed just like her classmates to make a bet on something like that. Ochako forced herself to reply.

- _Okay_ was the simple response. With joy filled hands, Ochako deleted the messages she and Kirishima had shared, so that Izuku wouldn't know she had been snooping.

Practically skipping with joy, Ochako finally left the room, Izuku's phone in hand, towards the practice field. The entire trip, there was one question on her mind.

 _When, how, is he going to do it?_ She asked herself. With determination on her face, she made herself a promise.

 _If he doesn't do it by this time next week,_ She steeled herself, clenching her fist in determination, _I'll have to do it myself!_

* * *

 _Thanks for reading that! I can't wait to start this mini-tournament arc that I have planned! I hope you like it! I would like to once again thank everyone for their support of this series! I really love to write these chapters, and I hope you love them as well!_ _ **Tell me what you think by dropping a review/comment! I really really really like to know what you guys think!**_ _Anyways, I know that the bracket for this tournament might get confusing, so I'll post a picture of the bracket next chapter. And yes I know that there will be 5 teams in the second round, which isn't an even number, so I have a plan for that situation. Don't worry._

 _Anyways, once again_ _ **drop a review!**_ _And see you in the next one!_


	4. Chapter 4: The First Matches

**The First Matches**

 **READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE CONFUSED BY THE BRACKET FOR THE TOURNAMENT!:** _Hey everyone! Quick note that's important to understanding the story! HERE IS A LINK TO THE STARTING BRACKET! (Remove the DOT and replace with '.'):_ _imgurDOTcom/a/FmTcb_

* * *

The days leading up to the festival blew by before Ochako even knew it. She started every morning with a run with Izuku, before moving onto early morning quirk practice and combo training for the festival.

Ochako was still not used to getting up hours before her body was used to. She was tired in the mornings, but she could start to see the fruits of her labor coming to fruition. She was able to run the four miles without getting as winded as before, but she was still tired afterwards. When she had expressed her concerns to Izuku that she wasn't improving as fast as she had hoped, he had reassured her.

"It won't happen immediately. It took me ten months to go from the point where I was as a little scrawny kid to being even able to run six miles." He had given her a big smile, "You'll get it!"

Ochako hadn't been convinced initially, but had decided to go with it. _Whatever it takes to become a hero. A hero like Deku._

Everyone in the class had been extremely secretive over the last few days, not wanting to risk anyone figuring out their secret techniques. There were reports of groups going out to the forest nearby, a five mile walk. Just to ensure their strategies were not discovered.

Luckily for Ochako and Izuku, nobody wanted to get up so early in the morning just to spy on the possibility of some sort of insight.

Much to Izuku's dismay, there had been an oversight found in the tournament bracket. The teachers had not realized that ten groups in the first round would leave an odd number of teams in the second round. So, there had been an edit to the bracket made. Instead of the first day holding five matches, the first day now only held two. The teachers had wanted to ensure that the teams would be facing similar enemies as before, so they had tried to make the matches all the same.

Who would be going first was determined by a random number drawing, as the teams that went on the first day would be at a distinct disadvantage, having to play an extra match to get to the path.

And with Ochako's GREAT LUCK, she and Izuku had been chosen. So, their first match was against Yaoyorozu and Toru. Ochako and Izuku were on their way to the arena now, but they were the second match of the day..

The competition was being held on the same playing field as the sports festival. Ochako was walking alongside Izuku as they walked towards the entrance to the stands. Izuku had been adamant about watching the other first match before moving to the pre staging area.

"So, if we win this first match, then we are guaranteed to go against Tsu and Denki for our second match." Izuku had his hand on his chin as he walked, once again enveloped in a spree of muttering. Ochako carefully squeezed his arm, to get his attention, but just as she expected, Izuku didn't respond.

"Ugh!" She groaned, grabbing Izuku's arm and yanking him in the right direction. He had nearly walked straight by the staircase.

"Aah!" He yelped as he was forcefully veered off of course.

"Stop worrying about a match that we don't even need to worry about yet!" Ochako chastised, mild annoyance in her tone, "Let's go watch the first match"

Izuku was dragged by his forearm up the entire staircase and into the bleachers. They stepped out into the open air inside the arena to see that it was still full of people. Sure, there weren't nearly as many people in the arena as there was during the sports festival, but every other seat was taken up.

Ochako scanned the area for a sign of her friends, catching the eye of Iida who was sitting next to two open seats. Ochako smiled and yanked Izuku with her over to their seats, where she happily plopped down in a chair. Only then did she finally let go of Izuku's arm.

"Ow…" he muttered, rubbing the spot where Ochako had been grasping his arm. Ochako giggled, estatic for some reason.

"Don't mutter and almost go the wrong way then, dummy!" She teased. Izuku barely got his signature notebook out before Present Mic's voice rang out over the entire arena.

"Are you ready?" His naturally loud voice, made only worse by his quirk, took up the entire arena, filling the area relentlessly with sound. Even louder, however was the roar of the crowd as the two teams stepped out onto the field.

All four of the contestants were wearing the traditional blues, reds, and whites of the standard PE uniform for UA, but there was an obvious difference between the two teams.

"Tokoyami and Todoroki look so...calm." Izuku noticed, looking down at the field below them. It was true. The two strode out onto the tan ground with confidence in their step, no hesitation in their movements.

"Koda and Sato, on the other hand…" Iida said, trailing off. Their steps were much more hesitant, and Koda's arms even looked like he was shivering slightly.

"They look…" Ochako realized, almost with horror.

"Terrified." Izuku finished, eyes not leaving the scene.

All contestants arrived on the field. Just like last time, Midnight was watching over the match, with Cementoss on the ready.

"Ready? Start!" Present Mic screeched.

Todoroki camly took a step forwards, ice collecting at his feet. The ice sped across the ground growing in size, gaining speed.

Ochako watched, speechless, as the ice shot from the ground, making the massive ice wall Todoroki had used many times. She could see him calmly let out a frosty breath.

"Koda! Sato! Can you move?" Midnight asked. The answer was obvious, though. The two were stuck in the massive block of ice.

"N-No!" Sato replied.

"Then the victory goes to Tokoyami and Todoroki!" Midnight yelled, raising her whip on her right side. The crowd stood in shocked silence, staring at the massive display, before erupting into cheers.

"It was over in an instant, huh?" Ochako said, voice shaky. Izuku just nodded, shutting his notebook. The connotation was obvious.

 _No amount of notes is going to help against that…_ Ochako realized. Izuku stood on shaky legs.

"Let's go get ready." He said, starting to walk away. Ochako followed close behind.

* * *

Izuku sat in the preparation room alone with Ochako. He was staring at the table in front of him, eyes distant. Ochako hated seeing him like this. With all of her heart.

When Izuku got like this, it was hard to pull him out again. His mind was over analyzing the situation, overthinking it. Ochako could see in his eyes that he felt hopeless, not even knowing what to do.

So Ochako did the only thing that felt right.

She rested her hand on his on the table, squeezing gently. Izuku looked up, looking Ochako in the eyes.

"Hey, we'll worry about that later. I know it's intimidating. I know it's hard to think about, how to go against that. But for now, we need to focus on this first match." She said, trying to sound as encouraging as possible. As 'Deku' as possible.

Izuku nodded, forcing a smile. Ochako could tell when he did that.

"You remember what the strategy is, right?" He asked. Talking seemed to get his mind off of the intimidating match that had just transpired.

"Yep!" Ochako said, throwing a fist into the air, "Every last bit!" Izuku smiled, and this time it was genuine.

 _Sometimes, you just need a little encouragement!_ Ochako thought to herself.

There was a knock on the door. "Let's go! It's match time!" A voice called. Izuku looked Ochako right in the eyes.

"You ready?" Was his simple question. Ochako steeled herself, reinforcing her will.

"Yes!" She said, jumping out of her seat. Whatever she had done, Izuku was back to his normal self. He stood up, and Ochako saw the determination in his eyes.

The determination that she had fallen for, all those weeks and months ago. Ochako grabbed Izuku's arm gently, looking him right in the eyes.

"Remember, You're my hero, Deku. Let's go out there and show everyone who's boss!" Ochako held her fist out in front of her. Izuku smiled once again, eyes fierce.

"I won't let you down!"

* * *

Izuku and Uraraka walked out from the tunnel into the bright light of midday. The sun was right overhead, beating down on the teenagers as they strolled across the grass onto the stone staircase.

Izuku looked over at Uraraka, seeing the determination in her eyes. He had seen this amount of resolve in the young woman once before. In her fight with Bakugo.

Just seeing her strength of will made Izuku's own fortify. _I won't let you down, Uraraka!_

Izuku strode up the staircase with confidence, chest puffed out. All of the encouragement he had received ran through his head, steeling Izuku more and more.

 _You can do it!_ His classmate's encouragement rang through his head

 _ **Tell the world, I am here!**_ All Might's words rang in his ears.

 _Maybe not that yet, but this might be enough for now._ Izuku said, almost hoping his mentor would hear him.

 _You're my hero, Deku._ The words that inspired him the most bounced around in Izuku's mind. Uraraka's words of encouragement, to help him, even though she was just as worried as he.

Izuku stepped onto the sandy dirt field with confidence, chin up.

"Are you ready?" Present Mic's voice rang over the battlefield. Izuku looked up from the ground in front of him to look up at Ochako, who nodded. Izuku looked up to the press box and gave a short nod.

"Then begin!" The call rang over the field. Neither Izuku or Uraraka moved, waiting to see what their opponent's first move was. Yaoyorozu stayed still, while Toru took off her gloves, kicking off her shoes.

 _Just as we thought._ Izuku smirked. Izuku channeled an immediate eight percent one for all full cowl.

"First step! Interrupt the creator!" Izuku raised his arm, channeling a burst of energy to his hand, elevating the energy of one for all in his finger to twenty percent for the briefest of moments. Izuku flicked, unleashing a maelstrom of wind pressure at his enemies. Yaoyorozu looked up with shock at the blast of wind flying at her, throwing up an improvised shield last moment to deflect the wind.

Izuku smirked again. _Good, use up your resources…_ Izuku looked to Uraraka, who gave a short nod. She kneeled down, pressing her fingers to the dirt.

Izuku started to move his foot back and forth, as fast as he could. Dirt shot up out of the ground, floating to fill the area. The dust stayed airborne due to Uraraka's quirk.

 _More!_ Izuku told himself, channeling twelve percent into his right foot, amplifying it's speed. More and more dust shot up, filling the area faster and faster. When Izuku felt like he couldn't keep it up any longer, he let up, stopping the rapid movement.

Where his foot had been was a crater about a foot deep and two feet long. All the sandy dirt that had been in that area was absent. Instead, filling up the field was a cloud of dust. Uraraka stood up.

"What's this? A shroud of dust particles?" Present Mic's voice boomed through the arena.

"Where are you…?" Izuku muttered scanning the area for movement. Although Izuku couldn't see to the other end of the field, so he couldn't see what Yaoyorozu was doing, but now it didn't matter. This shroud wasn't for her.

In the corner of his eye, Izuku saw a flicker of movement as the dust particles parted way. A figure moved through the shroud, as the floating specks of dirt made a path.

"Uraraka! Over there!" Izuku pointed behind her to her left, where the movement originated from. Uraraka turned on her heel just fast enough, as Toru was coming up behind Uraraka.

Uraraka pressed her hand against the gap in the dust, connecting with something. Suddenly, there was a soft yell as Uraraka shoved back against the mass, sending Toru flying out of the dust cloud once again.

"Toru is out of bounds!" Midnight called. With a gasp, Uraraka pressed her hands together, releasing Toru so she didn't go flying into any walls, also releasing all of the dust in the air at the same time.

Uraraka collapsed onto her knees from holding up so much mass for so long. Izuku started to rush over to her side, on instinct alone.

"Urara-" Uraraka looked up, glaring at him.

"I-I'm fine." She forced out, before pointing to the other side of the field, "Focus, Deku."

On the other side of the field, Yaoyorozu stood behind her makeshift bunker with a cannon next to her.

 _Shit._ Izuku thought, diving to the ground as a cannon ball sailed past where he had been standing a moment ago.

Izuku dove next to Uraraka as another cannonball sailed past. Izuku channeled another blast of energy through his finger, unleashing a blast of wind once again. When the wind calmed, however, Yaoyorozu sat, unscathed behind her barrier.

"We gave her too much time." Izuku muttered.

"Did you think I didn't know about your little wind attack?" Yaoyorozu taunted from across the field, "Do you really think Toru wouldn't go and spy on you while you were practicing?"

Izuku's heart dropped. _How could I not realize that? Stupid stupid stupid!_ Izuku looked over to Uraraka.

"Can you stand?" He asked. Uraraka tried to, but fell back to the ground when she tried.

"No, Sorry Deku." She said, disappointment in her tone obvious.

"It's okay-" Izuku grunted as he blasted away a cannonball with his wind blast, "Can you make me lighter?" He asked. Uraraka seemed to consider for a moment before reaching out weakly and pressing her hand against Izuku's leg. Izuku felt his weight half.

"I owe you one." Izuku said, standing up tall, hopping from foot to foot as Yaoyorozu reloaded her personal cannon.

"Go get 'em tiger." Uraraka said.

 _Wait for an opening._ Izuku told himself, feeling one for all fill his limbs. Five percent. Eight percent.

 _When she is vulnerable._ Izuku watched as Yaoyorozu prepared to launch the cannon once more, aiming it right for Izuku. Izuku pushed his bounds. Twelve percent.

 _When she's about to fire!_ Izuku dashed forward as fast as his lightened legs would carry him. Time seemed to slow for him as he dashed around the right side of the field, cannonball sailing through the spot he had been moments before. Izuku made a break straight for the cannon, grabbing the front of the barrel before it could fire again.

Amplifying the power in his hand to twenty percent, Izuku _crushed_ the entire front of the cannon, crumpling it. He let the power die down in his hand, instead punching the barrier with all the force of one for all twelve percent. Even though it was anchored to the ground, it went sailing out of the ground.

Izuku turned to Yaoyorozu, who to his eyes seemed to be moving more sluggish then even normal. She had a large bar for a weapon and a personal shield. Izuku almost laughed.

 _I fought Hero Killer: Stain. An expert in one on one combat. This is nothing_ The thought almost seemed like something Bakugo would say. Izuku dashed behind Yaoyorozu, hoping to bait her into turning around, just like he had with Stain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her start to turn to him.

 _Good. Sorry, Momo, but I can't let Uraraka down._ He thought as he used his other foot to propel himself off the ground, sailing above Yaoyorozu.

"Detroit!" Izuku reared his hand back, collecting energy in his arm.

" **SMASH!** " Izuku threw his fist down, where it made contact with the side of Yaoyorozu's face. With a blast of wind and force, she flew into the ground, making a small crater. Izuku finished his mid air flip, landing square on his feet. Yaoyorozu laid in a small hole in the ground, not moving, but still breathing.

"Yaoyorozu is unconscious! The winners are Uraraka and Midoriya!" Midnight called, raising her flag. Izuku collapsed onto the ground, sitting down. He looked over to where Uraraka was sitting, trying to force herself to her feet.

Even though his tired legs protested, Izuku forced himself to jog over to her, grabbing her by the shoulder and letting her put her weight onto him.

"That was so good, Deku!" She praised, voice weak.

"You did just as good! Holding that much weight for so long, THEN making me lighter! That was so amazing!" He said, causing a blush to appear on her face. She smiled at him, a genuine, happy smile.

"One match down, huh?" She said.

 _I could look at that smile all day._ Izuku told himself, staring into her eyes.

"Yeah, only three more to win the whole thing!" Izuku said jokingly.

"I hope they're not ALL this tiring." She joked back. A few people burst out onto the field, carrying a stretcher for Yaoyorozu.

"I might have gone a little overboard there." He said, suddenly feeling bad for knocking his friend out cold like that.

"No, you did what was reasonable." She assured him, suddenly collapsing on her leg, "I guess I'm much more tired than even I thought. Let's get to the medical ward. Make sure nothing is wrong with either of us."

"Good idea." And with that, Izuku helped Ochako walk tiredly to the medical ward, smiling the entire time.

Izuku and Uraraka made it back to the medical ward, and were happy to see that neither of them had any injuries.

"You just need a nap." Recovery Girl insisted, shooing them out the door, "Leave so I can tend to Miss Yaoyorozu!" Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously as they left the room.

"I really hope she's okay and I didn't go overboard with that…" Izuku muttered.

"You were just doing what you needed to win, Deku." Uraraka comforted with a yawn. Izuku stayed silent.

 _I could have eased up on the hit._ He scolded himself. The two walked in silence, not having the energy to strike up a conversation, no matter how much they wanted to. Izuku arrived at the dorm room, pulling open the door.

He was met with applause from everyone.

"Bravo! Bravo Midoriya and Uraraka! Bravo!" Iida said, yelling over the clapping hands.

"You guys fought great!"

"Both teams did!"

Izuku felt his face flush at the unexpected welcoming party, "Thanks everyone!" He said, still supporting most of Uraraka's weight.

"You guys killed it!" Toru said, stepping out from the crowd, "That cloud of dust? Didn't expect it at all!"

"Thanks, Toru." Uraraka said. There was some chatter from the group concerning the battle.

"They look beat! Let's let them rest." Kirishima noticed, gesturing to Uraraka putting most of her weight on Deku. There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd, until someone waved their hands, stepping out from the crowd.

"Hey! There's something I want to say!" Denki Kaminari stepped out from the crowd, "You may have fought well today, but…" He trailed off, looking Izuku and Uraraka in the eyes in turn. "I won't let you win tomorrow!"

Izuku looked his friend in the eyes, seeing the determination in his expression. Izuku raised his hand in challenge, but before he could say anything, Uraraka moved.

"You're on, Pikachu!" She said, raising her fist in challenge, just like Izuku.

 _So determined to win…_ Izuku marveled at her resolve. The room burst with laughter at how Uraraka had callen Kaminari 'Pikachu'. Izuku couldn't help but laugh as his friend's face flushed to pink from embarrassment.

 _Hey, wait! She's the one that usually does that to me!_ Izuku couldn't help but feel a little jealous, especially considering that Denki had tried to ask Uraraka out one time.

"Anyways, let's let them go relax." Iida interrupted again. This time, the crowd parted way for Izuku and Uraraka to go to the stairs. Izuku helped Uraraka up the stairs all the way to her room.

"You don't have to, Deku." She protested as they passed his floor.

"Oh, yes I do!" He said, "If I let you go up there alone, you'd probably collapse on the ground!" Uraraka blushed at the comment, but allowed Izuku to help her up to her room. They got to the fourth floor, where Uraraka unlocked her door.

Izuku came in her room and helped her over to her bed, where she plopped onto the soft mattress with a groan.

"I'm going to take a nap." She said. Izuku let out a little grunt.

"Me too, but I'll take a shower first. I prefer not to make my room smell like garbage." Uraraka laughed softly. Izuku made for the door, wanting to get to his room. He reached out for the handle, where his hand froze.

 _I'm alone with Uraraka right now._ He realized. He stayed frozen on the spot.

 _I could tell her everything...and nobody would interrupt._ Izuku was feeling strangely confident. Maybe it was leftover dopamine and adrenaline from his victory. Maybe it was something else.

Izuku didn't know what possessed him to turn around, but he did. "Hey Urar-" He cut himself off.

Uraraka was laying on her bed, still fully clothed, but sound asleep. The slow rise and fall of her chest was constant, and she looked beat. Izuku sighed softly.

 _She looks...pristine_ Izuku thought to himself when he looked at Uraraka. He shook his head and turned around.

 _Next time._ He told himself, reaching for the door handle, opening it and stepping out into the hallway.

* * *

 _Hey everybody! That's the first fight scene, so tell me what you think! Also, Thanks to EVERYONE that dropped a review! It means the world to me!_ _ **Don't forget to drop one on this chapter!**_ _Also, SEASON 3 HAS STARTED! Who's hype?_

 _Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and see you in the next one!_


	5. Chapter 5: Second Round (Part 1)

**Second Round(Part 1)**

 _Hey everyone! Quick note: Updated tourney standings(Replace DOT with '.'):_ _imgurDOTcom/a/tFmO0_

* * *

Ochako woke up with a new mindset. She was tired of tiptoeing around her emotions, and she was tired of Izuku doing the same. Ochako got out of her bed with energy, throwing on a set of workout clothes.

Ochako was tired of getting embarrassed whenever Izuku said something cute, or at one of her friends' mention of her crush. Originally, that embarrassment had been there because she hadn't been sure Izuku reciprocated her feelings. Now, she knew the truth. She liked him, and he liked her back.

Ochako had waited a few days for Izuku to start to do something, and she was tired of waiting. On this early morning before her workout session with Izuku, she made herself a promise.

If Izuku wasn't going to do something, She was going to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

Izuku woke up early, as was normal for him. He threw on his track suit and gloves, getting out of her room relatively quickly.

Uraraka was waiting at the exit to the dorm room, as was normal.

"Good morning, Deku!" She greeted with a smile, "Did you sleep well?" Izuku nodded eagerly.

"As good as I can! I don't even need to ask how you slept! You didn't even come to dinner!" He teased as they walked to the beach. Uraraka scratched the back of her neck.

"Heh...yeah. Turns out I ended up sleeping for fourteen hours, and that's even with waking up early to meet you here." She said, "At least it means that I'm full of energy for the fight today!"

They walked for another few moments in silence, before Izuku spoke up.

"Can I talk about our match today?" he asked sheepishly. Uraraka gave him an odd look.

"I don't see why not...why?"

"Well, you kind of hit me for talking about it yesterday…" He muttered. Miraculously, Uraraka burst out laughing.

"That's because we hadn't even finished our first match yet, dummy! We can talk about today's match all we want!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Okay then. I'm actually kind of worried about the match today." He admitted. Uraraka looked him in the eyes with a blank expression.

"Where's your usual confidence, Deku?" She asked, stepping over a crack in the concrete.

"Well," He started, "While Kaminari and Tsu might not have much in terms of combos they can do, there's one problem. Both of our quirks require us to get in close proximity, but any time we try to get close, we'll just get fried by Kaminari." He scratched his chin.

"I see what you mean. Couldn't you blast them out of the ring with your wind attacks?" He shook his head.

"Without the gauntlets to help direct the energy, it's too sporadic and spread out to knock someone far enough. My attacks aren't powerful enough yet to do that, especially against an opponent that braces themselves." He explained. Uraraka hummed in thought.

"Could we make him use enough that he goes…" Uraraka giggled, giving a thumbs up, "Whey" Izuku looked at Uraraka trying to make her face as flat as possible, imitating Kaminari when he went over his limit. It was hilarious.

"Haha! Uraraka! That's-" He cut himself off, not able to contain the laugher anymore. He had to stop walking to compose himself again. When he was finally able to move again, there was a smile plastered on his face.

"A-anyways." He panted, "I don't think that would work because I don't know how we could get him to use his electricity on a whim like that. Plus, he wouldn't just go and use all of it. He saw how that backfired that one time." he shook his head.

"We could always try that one thing we were working on…" Uraraka muttered. Izuku looked over.

"But that's not ready yet! Plus, I thought we said we were going to wait on using it for as long as possible!" He protested.

"This might be our last chance to use it!" Uraraka retorted, "If we lose here, there isn't anywhere else to use it!" Izuku breathed out carefully.

"I'll try to think of something. We can do that if it comes down to the last straw." He gave her a thumbs up. Just then, they arrived at the beach. They both set down their small backpacks and water bottles.

"I'll think something up while I run. Meet you at the other side?" He asked. Lately, he had been running at his own pace, letting Uraraka push herself, but not hold him back.

"Sure" She said. Both of them set off at a jog. Obviously, Izuku was significantly faster than Uraraka.

Izuku was lost in thought, thinking of ideas and strategies for their match later that day. Yet, everything that came to mind, he shot down.

 _Blind them? No that wouldn't work. He dust could work as a conductor, or a way for Tsu to camouflage._

 _Shoot style? No, It's still too predictable and I'm not great with it yet._

 _The new thing? No, It's not ready yet_

Izuku switched directions, running back along the beach. Then, an Idea came to mind.

 _I could go twenty percent._ The thought nearly scared Izuku. He hadn't gone full twenty percent since the hideout raid. Back then, he was able to go twenty percent for a few precious minutes, giving him the strength needed to hold his own against the ridiculous power that was Chisaki. A few minutes of that power had hurt, but not damaged him.

Izuku ran across the beach, weighing the positives and negatives of just going full twenty percent. In twenty percent mode, he was faster than Iida was without his special move, stronger than shoji, and as dangerous as Bakugo in terms of destructive power. He kept running, and passed by Uraraka on her way to the other end of the beach. She smiled at him as he passed her by.

 _Another thing. I haven't even ever shown twenty percent to anyone except those in the raid. And even so, not everyone saw me. It would be my first reveal._ Izuku growled softly under his breath. It was a hard decision. He made it back to the other end of the beach must faster than he had anticipated. He looked down and saw the crackling green energy of one for all in his legs. He switched it off.

 _I must have activated it accidentally._ He thought. He started running back the other direction. He passed Uraraka again, who this time waved.

 _There's something else…_ Izuku realized _This is a team event. I can't go out and win this match on my own. The point is to cooperate with others. Not go off alone._ He shook his head. Twenty percent was out of the picture.

Izuku ran back and forth on the beach, stumped. When he finally finished his eight miles, Uraraka was already sitting on the concrete step, water bottle in hand. Izuku jogged over.

"How was it?" He asked

"It's getting better. I don't feel like dying after four miles anymore, so I guess that's progress." She said. She pat the sidewalk step next to her. "Want to sit down?"

Izuku nodded, walking over and sitting on the step. Izuku grabbed his water bottle and drained a third of it in one go.

"You know…" Uraraka started as the sun peeked over the ocean, "Even if I wasn't focused on becoming better, I would still come in the mornings. Just for this."

"The sunrise?" Izuku took another swig of water. His bottle was half empty now.

"That and being able to sit here with you. It's quite relaxing" As if to prove her point, she placed her hands behind her and leaned back. Izuku couldn't help but blush.

"Why does being with me have to do with it?" He asked nervously. Uraraka looked over at him, odd expression on her face.

"It's relaxing to be around you. You're my best friend, Deku! How could it be worse with you here? If it's not worse, it's better!"

"That's the wisest thing put in the simplest terms." Izuku laughed. He set down his water bottle next to him. Uraraka looked over at it.

"I ran out of water. Can I have a drink of yours?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh water, yeah sure." Izuku seemed lost in thought, a soft blush plastered on his face. Uraraka tipped her head back, taking a drink from the bottle.

Izuku didn't know what came over him. Maybe he was feeling ballsy. Maybe he was feeling stupid. But the next words that came out of his mouth next, surprised him.

"You know, they call that second hand kissing." He regretted it as soon as he said it. Uraraka froze, slowly looking over at Izuku. His face was a red as a tomato.

"Huh. Never heard of that before." She said simply. Her face flushed slightly, but not to the extent of Izuku's.

"It's because-" Izuku started.

"I get why." She said with a giggle, setting down the water bottle between them. Then she leaned over close to Izuku.

Izuku's face felt the kiss on his cheek before his mind registered it. Uraraka came away, her face red.

"If the water bottle was a second hand kiss, consider that a hand and a half kiss. Somewhere between that and a real one." Izuku was still frozen in shock. Izuku was blushing profusely.

 _D-Did Uraraka just…?_ Izuku was in denial.

She giggled. "Hehe! You're cute when you're flustered." She said, standing up, "Come on, let's go practice." Izuku shot up off the ground in an instant.

"Y-y-yeah l-let's." He stuttered out. He was still completely shell shocked. Uraraka turned around and started to walk towards the practice field.

It took Izuku a moment to notice, but he eventually did, and he followed her.

* * *

Ochako was proud of herself. Not only did she swallow her nervousness and make a move, but it had _worked_. To her own surprise, she hadn't blushed profusely until _after_ she turned around. At that point, her face had lit up like a christmas tree.

Not only did she feel good for finally doing something, but she also felt like she was floating on air. She had _kissed_ Izuku. Albeit on the cheek, but nevertheless.

Ochako hoped that her flirtatious actions inspired Izuku to do something in return.

* * *

Izuku and Uraraka walked away from the practice field sweating.

"We have about an hour until we have to go to the stadium for the matches." Izuku said, "Just enough time to freshen up."

"Yeah, you stink." Uraraka hummed. Izuku scoffed.

"Like you're any better!" Izuku protested.

"Uhh...I'm so much better." She turned and winked at him, " 'Cause I'm a girl!"

 _What's with her mood this morning? She's so…_ Izuku blushed as he realized what Uraraka had been trying to do all day.

 _She's flirting with me_ Izuku realized with a start. He couldn't stop himself from blushing, once again. At this rate, his face was going to be permanently red. Izuku continued walking back to the forms with Uraraka, making meaningless small talk.

"They might ban us from using the field eventually." Uraraka noted.

"Why?" Izuku was confused as to why they would be denied a place to practice.

"Because every time we use the field, it's utterly destroyed by the end of it." She pointed to the distant dirt field. Izuku scratched the back of his head.

"It's not like we can help it…" He muttered. Uraraka just shrugged and kept walking. Uraraka left Izuku in silence, which naturally meant his thoughts drifted.

 _Uraraka's flirting with me. My best friend is FLIRTING with me._ He realized. He scolded himself for not realizing earlier.

While he didn't enjoy getting constantly flustered, he liked her flirting with him. Really liked it, in fact. Suddenly, a thought fought its way into Izuku's mind.

 _The least I can do is return the favor_ The thought was in his mind before he even noticed it was there. Izuku panicked.

 _What if she doesn't want me to?_

 _I've never done that before!_

 _What if I mess it up and make everything awkward?_

Izuku shook his head, forcing the thoughts away.

Izuku opened the dorm building door for Uraraka, and they continued to the staircase.

" _Grow a pair"_ His classmate's words echoed in his mind.

"Everything fine, Deku?" Uraraka seemed to notice the frown on his face as he was thinking. Izuku looked up.

They were almost to his floor.

 _Now or never_

"The only thing that's fine here is you." Izuku winked.

 _Oh God why did I wink_ Izuku scolded himself. Uraraka just looked at him for a moment, before her face turned beet red. Steam looked like it was coming out of her ears. For some reason, Izuku's face didn't feel very hot. It was like being confident and headstrong made his worries go away.

Izuku remembered something from the beach that morning.

Just as he parted ways with Uraraka, he looked her in the eyes and said, "You look cute when you're flustered."

* * *

Time came around to go to the stadium, and when Ochako and Izuku met up with their friends to head to the stadium, it felt like the awkward flirting from earlier had never happened. Which was good, because if Ochako had been constantly thinking about that, then she would have been permanently pink.

Iida, Ochako and Izuku walked in tandem up the staircase to the stands where they were going to watch the first match.

"Tokoyami and Todoroki versus Jirou and Aoyama. Maybe they've figured out something to be able to fight against Todoroki's ice wall." Iida said, hopeful. Ochako could tell by the tone of his voice that he was nervous about his match.

"I've been wondering that as well. Aoyama's quirk can be powerful, but it has serious drawbacks and lacks sustainability." Izuku said, analytic as always. Ochako stayed silent.

They made it to their usual spots in the stands, to find that some of their classmates were already present, waiting for the match to start.

"Hey everyone!" Iida said cheerfully. Some of their classmates inclined their heads in acknowledgement.

 _Seems everyone is eager to see the matchups today._ Ochako thought, sitting down next to Izuku, as per usual. As soon as he was in his seat, Izuku pulled out a notebook and flipped to an empty page.

"It's time for the second day of matches! Are you ready?!" Present Mic yelled into the colosseum. Ochako winced at the loud roar that resounded through the area.

"Enter the contestants!"

From one side, Todoroki and Tokoyami walked up to the playing field, calm as ever. On the other side, Jirou and Aoyama walked up.

"At least they don't look as intimidated as Koda and Sato." Iida noted. At closer inspection, Ochako could see what he was talking about. Jirou walked with her usual, uncaring strut, and Aoyama walked on with a massive smile on his face, like nothing in the world could hurt him.

"Contestants ready? Start!" Present Mic yelled. Ochako held her breath as Todoroki took a step forwards, ice collecting at his feet. It crept towards Jirou and Aoyama, gaining speed and size.

 _Don't let him just roll over you again._ Ochako silently pleaded.

Jirou's earphone jacks shot down, attaching to her legs. A blast of sound erupted from her. It wasn't enough to stop the ice barreling towards them, however. Ochako sucked in more air.

"Aoyama now!" Jirou yelled. Aoyama smiled. He put his hands behind his head, and a blue beam shot from his navel.

The beam didn't shoot towards the ice block however. As the beam came out of his stomach, it shot straight into the distortion that Jirou was making. As the beam went into the solid sound, it went wild. The normally thin blue beam zig-zagged all over the place. It looked like the yellow wave that came out of Present Mic's mouth when he used his quirk.

The blue onslaught tore into the massive ice block just before it reached Aoyama and Jirou, tearing it to pieces.

"Yeah!" Ochako couldn't help but cheer at seeing someone other than Izuku and Bakugo take out Todoroki's massive attack. The two teams sat, looking at each other once again.

"They're kind of at a stalemate right now." Izuku spoke up. Ochako looked over at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, Jirou and Aoyama can't risk going on the offensive, because the other two are by far more powerful. They can destroy anything that Todoroki sends their way, sure, but they can't do anything else, either." Izuku explained. As he talked, Iida nodded.

"And Todoroki and Tokoyami can't exactly get close. Jirou can just push them back." Iida said.

"Ah I see. So are they going to just sit there?" Ochako asked. Izuku shook his head.

"If there's one thing I've learned about Todoroki, it's that he always has another trick up his sleeve." As if on cue, Todoroki took another step with his right foot. Ice collected around him.

"Are they just going to try again?" Iida said, pointing to the field. The ice kept collecting, not going anywhere.

"Oh that's risky." Izuku spoke up. He pointed his pencil down at the field, where Todoroki was just letting the ice accumulate.

"What-" Ochako was cut off when there was an explosion of blue ice on the field. This time, however, instead of shooting towards their competition, it went up. Straight up. The Ice rose towards the roof of the coliseum, where the glass opened up to the sky.

Then the entire place was shut into darkness.

"Wha-" Iida looked around.

"Do you remember what Tokoyami said about his weakness?" Izuku asked his friends that he could now vaguely see. Ochako's eyes went wide as she everything clicked.

"Dark Shadow is weak to light." Two yellow slits popped open down at the field. Ochako looked carefully, eyes still adjusting to the newfound darkness. She saw Dark Shadow mold itself to Tokoyami's body, and it was not small. The form added about five feet to his height.

Tokoyami took a step forwards, before breaking into a sprint. He ran straight at Jirou and Aoyama. Aoyama tried to shoot a beam at his enemy, but Tokoyami slapped it away like it was a fly. Tokoyami whipped his arm around, massive claw raking the ground and making the building shake. Aoyama shot out from the hit, flying out of bounds and into a wall.

Jirou barely dodged, jumping to the side, using the force of her heartbeat to launch herself out of the way. She sailed through the air, retracting the ear jacks from her legs, before wipping them out, where they wrapped around Tokoyami's leg. She grabbed onto the cord, pulling as hard as she could, causing Tokoyami to fall to one knee.

The massive beast looked up, and Ochako swore she could see a hint of amusement on his face. He grabbed the earphone jack around his leg, and _yanked_ on it. Jirou went sailing off the ground, flying stright towards Tokoyami, where she was met with a forceful punch. When the dust cleared, Jirou was unconscious on the ground.

"That's match!" Present Mic called out to the crowd as Todoroki melted the massive cover over the stadium, allowing light back into the field.

"That was...something." Ochako said. Everyone credited Todoroki with being the most powerful person in the class, but what Tokoyami just did was impressive.

"It was risky, but it paid off. The one problem is that Dark Shadow could have gone crazy just like during the summer. Looks like Tokoyami has more control that before." Izuku muttered.

Although Ochako was trying to focus on her match she had ahead of her, she couldn't help but feel anxious. If Izuku and her got far enough, they would have to go against _that_. Ochako looked over at Izuku, who was furiously scribbling in his notebook. Ochako sighed.

"Let's see how the next match goes." Ochako said with a sigh. Shoji and Mineta came out on one side, and Mina and Kirishima came out on the other.

"Kirishima and Mina are good friends. They work well together." Ochako noted.

"Not unlike yourself and Midoriya." Iida noted. Ochako blushed slightly.

"I guess so, you're right. He _is_ my best friend after all." Iida's face flashed with something Ochako didn't recognize. Only then did she realize the implications of what she had said.

"N-not that you aren't also my best friend! I-I-" Ochako blushed in embarrassment, unable to form a sentence.

"I know. It's quite alright, Uraraka." Iida said. Still blushing, Ochako looked down slightly. Izuku looked up from his notebook for a moment, and saw how red Ochako was.

Then he smiled and winked before looking back down at his book. The implications were obvious.

 _You're cute when you're flustered_ Izuku's words echoed in Ochako's mind, and she buried her face in her hands, wanting to die.

Ochako was still as red as a chili pepper when the next match started. Frankly, Shoji and Mineta didn't really have a chance. Their entire strategy was based on Mineta hiding in Shoji's arms, like he did at the sports festival. Ochako assumed that his plan was to get Mina and Kirishima immobile with his balls.

It all fell apart for them when Mina shot acid at every ball Mineta threw out, dissolving them mid-air. She skated towards the other two, Kirishima following in a run behind.

Mina slid under a jab from Shoji, spraying acid on his leg. Shoji fell to his knees wincing from pain as his skin started to dissolve. Kirishima, grabbed Shoji's right side, throwing him out of bounds similar to how Izuku did in the sports festival to Shinso. The match ended with Mineta running out of bounds yelling "I submit!"

As soon as the match was over, Izuku stood up. He looked over to Ochako, giving her a big smile.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yup! Let's go win!" She said happily. Whenever she was around Izuku, her fears and anxieties seemed to dissipate. It was a feeling she could get used to.

* * *

 _Hey everyone! I know I didn't get to the Kaminari Tsu vs IzuOcha today, but it's because I was already 2k words in by the time I got into matches! I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next one!_

 _ **P.S, Don't forget to leave a review! I appreciate every single one of you!**_


	6. Chapter 6: Second Round: Part 2

**Second Round (Part 2)**

Izuku and Uraraka sat in the preparation room, but unlike last time, it was lively.

"No way!" Uraraka was barely containing her laughter.

"Yes way! Mina and Kirishima. Sitting in the post match room, kissing. Saw it with my own two eyes." Izuku pointed to his own pupils as if it made his own argument more valid.

"I so totally need to talk to Mina after this, then." Uraraka said, "She's getting a mouthful. Maybe I can…" She trailed off.

"Can what? And why do you need to talk to her?" Izuku said, confused. Uraraka's face flushed slightly.

"Umm...no reason." She said. There was a knock on the door.

"It's match time!" Izuku looked into Uraraka's eyes, and saw nothing but determination.

"Let's go!" She hopped up from her seat and strode out the door. Izuku followed suit.

* * *

Izuku was walking up the steps to the playing field once more, and couldn't help but feelgiddy. He and Uraraka had scraped out a win in the first round, but this one was going to be harder even than that one.

He peaked the slope and met Kirishima's eyes across the way. Uraraka walked up next to him, and it made Izuku ever so slightly more confident. Being around her did that, he noticed.

"Are the contestants ready?" Present Mic yelled over the crowd. Izuku looked up to the press box and nodded.

"Ready? Start!" The match began just as Izuku thought it would. Kaminari and Tsu waiting for Izuku and Ochako to push them.

"Remember. They don't have much in terms of synergies, but don't try to push them alone." Izuku muttered under his breath.

Both sides sat, waiting for the other to make a move.

"We could do the thing." Uraraka suggested.

"The thing isn't ready!" Izuku protested.

"The thing might be the only thing that works!" Uraraka retorted. Izuku grinded his teeth together, trying to come up with something. His mind went back to the options he came up with that morning.

 _Shoot style? No I have to get close._

 _Twenty percent is out of the picture_

 _Dust cloud?_ Then the idea came to mind.

"Uraraka. We need to make a dust cloud again." He muttered. Uraraka just gave him a weird look, but seemed to trust his judgement. She kneeled down, pressing her hand to the ground.

Izuku activated one for all eight percent and rapidly moved his leg, shooting up dust just like before.

"Another dust cloud? What possibly could they have in mind?" Present Mic yelled. As soon as all the dust was in the air obscuring everything, Izuku stopped.

 _Now I have to-_ Izuku was cut off as rapid movement pushed through the dust cloud. Tsu jumped straight through as Izuku was blinded. She moved too fast for Izuku to react. Izuku called twenty percent to his finger, flicking the dust cloud at Kaminari to blind him, but it was too late. Tsu already had her tongue around Uraraka, throwing her out of bounds.

 _Damn_ Izuku jumped out of the way just in time.

"Uraraka is out of bounds!" Midnight called.

 _Damn damn damn!_ Izuku cursed under his breath. On the other side of the field, Kaminari was smirking.

"Now you're alone! What are you going to do now, broccoli boy?" He was walking forwards slowly, and Tsu was standing off to his right. Izuku was nearly backed into the corned and had nowhere to go.

 _If I go at Kaminari, he will just hit me before I can get to him, and then it's over. Tsu can jump out of the way._ Izuku shook his head, out of options.

"I believe in you Deku!" Uraraka said from out of bounds. "Remember! Deku means never give up!"

 _Never give up…_ Izuku steeled himself. Uraraka was backing him up. He couldn't fail now. He wouldn't let himself.

"How do I get close enough, fast enough? Can I go that way and then…" Izuku started muttering to himself, coming up with ideas as fast as possible.

"Talking to yourself again?" Kaminari let off a shock that struck the ground next to Izuku. He kicked the ground next to him idly.

The idea came to Izuku's mind. It was risky, but he had already seen a risky maneuver earlier that day, when Tokoyami went on a rampage with Dark Shadow.

 _I don't have to worry about including Uraraka anymore._ Izuku told himself, _That means there's nothing holding me back._

Kaminari and Tsu were closing in.

From Izuku's private sessions with All Might, Izuku found that he could only go twenty percent for about thirty seconds before things started to break inside him.

 _Guess I gotta make those thirty seconds count then._ Izuku told himself. The other two were closing in.

"Midoriya is crammed into a corner! What will he do? The odds are stacked against him!" Present mic called out. Kaminari and Tsu were about ten feet out now.

"Come on...a little closer." Izuku said under his breath.

"What's that I hear? Nervous muttering?" Kaminari teased. Izuku activated one for all eight percent, filling up his body with power.

"Think you can fight two on one, huh?" Kaminari was the king of trash talk. "We've seen how fast you are, Midoriya! No matter how fast you think you are, you're not fast enough to dodge lightning! Give it up!"

But this isn't as fast as he could go. It wasn't even half as fast as he could go. As how fast he _needed to go_.

 _For Uraraka._ He told himself, steeling against the daunting task ahead of him.

Izuku had gotten used to letting through a leak of what sat behind the gate of power. Now, however, he would be opening the floodgates. He waited, just for the right moment. Kaminari took another step.

"What? Are you going to-"

Izuku opened the torrent of power, letting it wash over him.

"One for all!" He called out, "Twenty percent!" Izuku could feel his joints straining. The power not only enhanced his physical speed and strength, but it also increased his brain's processing speed. Time seemed to slow, ever so slightly, around him.

All it took was a single kick off the ground to close the distance between him and Tsuyu. A blast of wind pressure was left in his wake, as the air molecules rushed to replace the air he had displaced.

Izuku saw the scared look in Tsu's eyes as he grabbed her arm. Whipping around, Izuku threw her with all the power he had. Tsu went flying out of the ring, straight into the wall.

Izuku turned to Kaminari, who was now staring at Izuku, a mix of fear and determination in his eyes.

 _No time to waste_ Izuku dashed towards the yellow haired boy. As Izuku closed in, Kaminari raised his hand as if he was going to unleash a shock, so Izuku kicked off the ground, dodging to the right.

He took off at a full speed sprint, crossing the distance between him and Kaminari in an instant.

"This is for Uraraka." He said. He grabbed Kaminari's arm, and threw him into the air as hard as he could. The combination of wind pressure and the force of the throw sent Kaminari at least a hundred feet into the air.

Izuku kicked off the ground, getting to the height that Kaminari had sailed to. Smile plastered on his face, Izuku grabbed the boy's leg.

"Manchester!" Whirling Kaminari's body around like a ragdoll.

" **SMASH!** " Izuku circle threw Kaminari straight into the ground with all the force he could, putting a little extra energy into the throw. Kaminari went flying to the ground below, where he struck the ground with a cloud of dust.

Izuku fell to the ground, aiming a finger blast below him to stop his fall, before deactivating one for all.

Kaminari was laying in a crater in the middle of the arena. It wasn't the type of crater that Yaoyorozu was in, either. It was the size of the white circle in the center. Izuku kind of felt bad, but also didn't, considering the amount of trash talk he had been saying. Recovery girl's little helpers came in and took Kaminari out on a stretcher.

* * *

Ochako was sitting in the post-match waiting room when Izuku opened the door, peeking his face into the room.

"Deku!" She shot up from her seat, rushing over to the door, "That was amazing!" She threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Ahh! Hey, Uraraka" Izuku yelped slightly in surprise before Ochako pulled away.

"You did so great! Taking them both on in a one versus two like that!" Ochako couldn't help but squeak a little bit with joy. Izuku chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

"The only reason I had to do that is because I was too stupid to see what they were waiting for." Izuku walked into the room, throwing his weight into a chair. Ochako tilted her head at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"If I had been paying attention, I would have realized that they were waiting for us to blind ourselves to make a move." Izuku ran his hand through his hair. Ochako's breath caught in her throat.

She hated seeing Izuku like this. When he would get down on himself, and blame himself for every little thing that went wrong. It wasn't like him.

"Hey, stop that." She said sternly, sitting down in the chair next to Izuku. He looked over, concern in his eyes.

"What do you-" He started.

"You're blaming yourself for everything that went wrong." Any friendliness that was normally in her voice was gone, "It's bad. We won, and that's what matters." She put a sense of finality in her tone.

"But it's meant to be a doubles exercise! I ruined that for us!" He protested.

"And you _still_ won, on your own! Sure, you didn't see through their plan. Neither did I! It's not all your fault!" Ochako could feel herself coming apart at the seams.

"Uraraka…" Izuku muttered.

"The Deku I know wouldn't get down on himself for something like this! He would be confident and keep going!" Her voice was thick with emotion. Izuku stayed silent, so Ochako continued.

"We may have made a mistake, but they made a worse one. They underestimated you." Ochako met his eyes, "You're so inspiring when you're determined! I saw it in your face! You wanted to win, and you wouldn't take no for an answer!"

"But-" Izuku was cut off once again.

"You came out on top! You beat both of them, when all odds were stacked against you!" Ochako's voice softened, "I wish I could be like that."

There was a period of silence.

"You are like that." Izuku said softly.

"What?" Ochako couldn't believe her ears.

"I said you are like that! You never give up! You inspire those around you, Uraraka!" Izuku looked into her eyes, "The reason I won there, the reason I kept fighting, is because I had you backing me up."

"I-"

"I felt your support as if it were a physical force pushing me to do better. I knew that I couldn't let you down…" He said. His words shocked Ochako to her core. All this time, she had been inspired by Izuku, letting him be her inspiration. To hear that he felt the same about her….

"Thank you, Ochako" Izuku said. Ochako was shocked at his use of her first name.

Izuku stood, walking over to Ochako, and pulled her into a hug. Shell shocked, it took a moment for Ochako to return the embrace, but when she did, she pulled her arms around Izuku, tight.

"You are my hero." She said into his ear. She could feel tears threatening the corners of her vision.

"You're just as much my hero as I am yours." Izuku responded. Ochako chuckled.

"You're so cheesy, Deku." She mumbled, pulling away from the embrace and wiping her eyes.

"It's my job." He said, shrugging, "Want to go watch the last match?" Ochako nodded, and the two left the room together.

* * *

Izuku and Ochako made it back to the stands, and were met with applause from their classmates.

"Thanks everyone!" Ochako said enthusiastically, giving a huge thumbs up.

"Izuku, dude! That was sick!" Kirishima said from his seat next to Mina. Ochako remembered what Izuku had said about seeing him and Mina kissing in the post-match room earlier.

"Yeah, the way you took both of them on!" Mina exclaimed. Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah, that actually kind of hurt. The only time I've pushed myself that far before was…" Izuku trailed off. He wasn't allowed to talk about the Overhaul raid.

"Umm...nevermind. Just know that that hurts. It's the furthest I can push myself without actually damaging my body, and I can only go for a short period of time." He said. Their classmates eyed him awkwardly, but shrugged it off.

"That was so fast. My eyes couldn't even keep up!" Sato said, nodding.

"I agree, quite impressive." Tokoyami said in his usual quiet voice.

"You did amazing too, Todoroki and Tokoyami!" Ochako exclaimed. "The way you used Dark Shadow's strength of being in the dark!"

"That was actually Todoroki's idea." Tokoyami said. Todoroki opted to remain quiet.

"Regardless-" Ochako was cut off by Present Mic calling out the next set of contestants.

On one side, Iida and Ojiro walked onto the field together. On the other side, Bakugo was walking out onto the field, leaving his teammate in the dust. He had a look of pure anger on his face.

"That's Bakugo for you." Kirishima shook his head, "It's just like him to go all lone wolf like that." Sero walked a few paces behind Bakugo, trying to catch up.

"Contestants ready?" Present Mic called out to the audience.

"I feel bad for Sero. Bakugo isn't really one to work together with anyone unless he absolutely has to." Momo said. There was a murmur of agreement.

"Bakugo is going to run straight at Iida and Ojiro, trying to end the match quick." Izuku said. Ochako looked at him. He had his notebook out, Bakugo's page opened up.

"Start!" Present Mic called out. True to Izuku's prediction, as soon as the match started, Bakugo broke into a dead sprint towards Ojiro.

"Then he's going to lead with a strong right hand punch." Izuku muttered. Ochako watched as Bakugo did just that, lunging with his right arm at Ojiro's face. Then, as if he were expecting it the entire time, Ojiro took a step straight towards Bakugo. The martial artist grabbed Bakugo under the arm, before taking a step back and throwing him over his shoulder towards the boundary.

"You are too predictable, Kacchan." Izuku shook his head.

Just before Bakugo reached the ground out of bounds, however, Tape wrapped around him, yanking him back to his starting side. Sero gave Bakugo a smile, and was met with a scowl.

"Looks like Sero at least had a backup plan in case things went south." Ochako said.

"If Iida and Ojiro are smart, they'll close the distance." Izuku said. Once again on cue, Ojiro and Iida broke into a sprint at the enemy team.

"You should stop that. It's kinda weird that you can predict every move." Ochako said softly, so Izuku was the only one that could hear. Izuku blushed, but shut his mouth, nodding in thanks.

Ojiro and Iida ran at Bakugo and Sero, but as soon as the duo got in close, Bakugo let off an explosion, sending them reeling back. They tried again, just to be blown back. Ochako could see Bakugo yelling down on the field, but couldn't hear what he was saying.

Ojiro and Iida stood, just staring down Sero and Iida, neither team making a move. It was just like what happened in Todoroki and Tokoyami's match.

"I see what they're doing." Izuku said, "Sorry, but I have to say this." There was a little laugh from the group.

"Can't keep it to yourself for too long, eh Midoriya? What is it?" Kirishima teased.

"Look at Bakugo." He said simply. Ochako focused down on the field. At first she didn't notice it, but after closer inspection Ochako saw it.

"He's yelling." She said. Izuku nodded.

"Kacchan is really impatient. Ojiro and Iida know that it's only a matter of time before Bakugo gets annoyed again and goes on the offensive. Then they're at an advantage." He said.

Ochako watched as Bakugo got more and more angry, waving his arms around. Finally, something broke and Bakugo launched himself at his enemy with blasts from his hands. Sero threw up his hands in exasperation before following .

Bakugo was about to meet Ojiro, just like before, but at the last moment, he launched himself over the other student, before blasting him in the back with an explosion. Ojiro staggered, but wasn't done getting hit yet. Bakugo blasted himself towards the blonde, catching his face in his hand, before unleashing a close range blast. Ojiro staggered away, wavering.

Just at that moment, Iida arrived, engine boosted kick catching Bakugo in the stomach. Bakugo sailed a few feet into the air. Iida jumped up, bringing his leg around, hitting Bakugo square in the back, launching him into the ground.

"Yeah Iida!" Ochako cheered her friend on, feeling ever so slightly guilty for playing favorites.

Iida reached over and grabbed Bakugo by the collar, preparing to run him out of bounds.

Just at that moment, Sero's tape attached itself to Iida's leg. Sero yanked Iida back, whipping him around in a circle like he was a lasso. Sero released the tape and send Iida flying out of bounds.

At that moment, Ojiro got up off the ground and started towards Sero. The martial artist, engaged Sero, who was no match for Ojiro, whether or not he was injured. Sero caught a knee to the stomach and a kick to the face, where he fell over onto his knees. Ojiro whirled around, preparing to deal the final blow.

Suddenly, the field erupted with orange light. The smoke cleared to reveal both Ojiro and Sero having been launched out of bounds into the nearest wall. The only one still standing in the ring was Bakugo, who stood, arm outstretched.

"That was the move he used at the sports festival against me…" Ochako said, amazed.

"He did that to his own teammate?" She realized with a start.

"Kacchan will do anything to win." Izuku stated it as if it were fact, "It's his way." Izuku stood up, shutting his notebook. He didn't look angry or worried. Just...disappointed? He walked from the stands while the rest of his friends stayed staring at the field below. Ochako followed him quickly.

She caught up to Izuku walking in the staircase that led out of the stadium.

"Deku? Are you okay?" She asked tentatively. Izuku turned, and his posture relaxed when he saw Ochako.

"Y-Yeah. Just a little nervous I guess." He said glumly.

"Are you worried about tomorrow?" Ochako had her suspicions.

"You can read me like a book." He chuckled, "I'm not exactly nervous as in I'm scared, I'm nervous as in it's a big match."

"Yeah, top four…" She agreed.

"Not only that. Kacchan and I have a history as you know." Izuku looked Ochako in the eyes as they walked.

"Yeah…?"

"I think that I can beat him tomorrow. For the first time." He said with confidence renewed.

"What makes you say that?" Ochako inquired. Izuku gave her a big smile.

"Because I have you standing by me. With you, I think we could topple the world." He said. Ochako's heart fluttered, and she barely kept in a squeak of joy.

Instead, she grabbed his hand in hers and squeezed firmly.

"We will win tomorrow." She said, imitating Izuku's confidence, "Together."

* * *

 _That's it for this one! Bakugo fight tomorrow! It's a biggie!_

 _Fun fact: this chapter and the last one were originally one chapter that was over 7k words. I decided to upload it as two for consistency's sake._

 _Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!_ _ **Don't forget to drop a review!**_

 _See you in the next one!_

 _ **P.S. I'm working on a super angst fic on the side. Let's just say it involves All Might dying! I have the first chapter done, but I want to write more before I start uploading it. Plus, it'll only go up every once in a while, as this fic takes precedence. Anyways, tell me whether or not you want to see it!**_


	7. Chapter 7: Bakugo

**Bakugo**

 _ **Warning: Lots of cussing in this chapter. I know it's rated T so that should be self explanatory, but just letting you know.**_

 _Hey everyone! I don't normally do pre-chapter author's notes, but I wanted to put this one out front since it's important. I wanted to thank everyone for all the support they've shown the story so far. I've gotten so many positive reviews, it makes me all happy! Special shout out to 76789 on AO3 for commenting on EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER! On we've surpassed 100 follows, which is crazy! That is so many people that decided they like my work enough to follow it and read more!_

 _Huge shoutout to the people over on the IzuOcha discord for all of their words of encouragement! The IzuOcha discord is a great place to interact with fellow shippers! I lurk on the writer's loud library frequently, so if you want to join the server and talk to me and other authors, then I would love to talk to you! You could also share your headcannon ideas, ideas for chapters, etc.! It's such a good place!_

 _Link (Replace "DOT" With "."):_ _discordDOTgg/gBFThx9_

 _Also, shoutout for Black Fuego Rio for his shoutout in his amazing IzuOcha story, "Domestic Heroes!" If you're interested in reading a family style fic with Izuku as the Dad figure of Eri and Ochako as the mom figure!_

 _Anyways, enough with the drabble. Time to write an intense fight scene!_

* * *

Ochako was flying. Well, more like falling, but it _felt_ like flying. It was great and all, up until she fell into a wall, or threw up from using her quirk on herself for too long.

Over the last few days, Ochako had been working on a technique in secret. She had even kept it a secret from Izuku. Ochako peeled herself off of the wall she had just fallen into. With a groan, she walked back to her starting position.

The idea had started when she had discovered her ability to manipulate the direction of gravity. She had practiced enough to consistently manipulate gravity on other objects, but she was limited with how much she could do it to herself.

Ochako took a quick breath, and jumped up in the air, changing the direction of gravity to the side, towards the building about fifteen paces in front of her. She accelerated towards the wall, and felt the wind blowing by her face. It was liberating. When she was about five paces from the wall, she changed her direction of gravity to being up and behind her, so that she would slow her horizontal speed, and instead start to go upwards.

Luckily this time, she cut off just in time, so instead of slamming into the wall, she flew straight up, rising up the side of the building.

"Haha!" She cheered with sheer joy as she kept falling into the sky, rising above the brick building she was standing next to. She released the hold of gravity on herself, allowing her body to float in midair, about fifty feet off the ground. She looked around her.

The night lights of Tokyo speckled the dark night sky, like little pepperings of light in a pallet of blackness. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Whoa…" She looked over the scene. Learning to pseudo-fly seemed to have opened an entire new world. She spun around, and behind her was the ocean, blue water looking black at this time of night. The moon was overhead, shining like a beacon in the darkness.

 _I have to show Deku this…_ She realized. The scene laid out below her was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, and she wanted to share it with one of the most important people to her.

As much as she would have liked to stay up there forever, she started to feel queasy, so it was time to head down. She released her quirk, allowing gravity to reassert itself. She gained speed as she fell to the ground, and when she got close, she reversed gravity towards the sky, slowing her fall. She released her quirk once more and fell to the ground unharmed.

Ochako keeled over, resisting the urge to vomit. She had only been in the air for all of forty seconds, and already felt like she was going to die.

 _Going to have to work on keeping that going for longer. That was the most liberating experience I think I've ever had._ She told herself, recovering from the queasiness. She decided it was time to throw in the towel. It was late and she needed to be up early to train with Izuku the next morning.

As she walked back to the dorm room, she couldn't help but think what it would be like to fall through the sky, almost like she was flying.

* * *

Ochako woke to the sound of her alarm a few hours later. She slapped the clock with a groan, rubbing her eyes to force herself awake. Between secretly training late at night, and waking up early to train with Izuku, she was getting five hours of sleep a night at the very best.

She forced herself to stand up so she didn't fall asleep accidentally. She got changed into her workout clothes quickly, and rushed out the door to meet Izuku.

The two made their way back down to the beach, and Ochako could tell from Izuku's demeanor that he was nervous. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you nervous?" She asked. Izuku looked over to her, his mouth pursed tightly. He just nodded.

Ochako knew that fighting Bakugo was going to be stressful for Izuku. Izuku, even through all the bullying and shit he got from Bakugo himself, looked up to the spiky-haired blonde. She knew that he had bad experiences with Bakugo, and that they haunted him.

She knew that even though Izuku should hate Bakugo, that he still cares for the boy and wants to see him become a better person. That is why she knew this match they would be having in a few hours time was going to be hard on Izuku.

And she was going to be there for him.

"We'll win, you hear?" She gave him a big smile, "I still haven't gotten my revenge on him for the Sports Festival, you know!" Izuku chuckled.

"Thank you, Uraraka." He said, visibly relaxing as tension dissipated from his shoulders.

"For what?" She asked.

"For being you."

Ochako decided to lighten her run a little bit, as she needed to save some energy for the big fight today. They were going up against one of the "Big Three" of their first year's class. Ochako looked out over the beach as she waited of Izuku to finish his extra distance, and couldn't help but smile.

 _He may deny it every time someone brings it up, but he is definitely one of the big three._ She thought as she watched Izuku. He was just too humble for his own good.

Ochako migrated over to the concrete staircase she had watched the sunrise with Izuku on the day before. She took a big gulp of water and plunged into her own thoughts about the match today.

She was nervous, sure, but she had a feeling she wasn't nearly as nervous about the entire situation as Izuku was. She could see it in the way he ran. He was dragging his feet, like he wasn't focused on his body, as if his mind were elsewhere. She could see him shaking his head every once in a while, like he was rejecting an idea that he had come up with.

Ochako watched with concern until Izuku finally finished his run and walked over to the staircase. Just as he sat down, the sun peeked out from over the horizon.

"You must have timed it." She teased. He looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?" He grunted.

"Just as you finished your run, the sun came out. We can watch it together again!" She gave a big smile, trying to relax him.

"Weird." He said simply. He leaned back, putting his arms back behind him to lean on. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"So I was going over hypothetical battle situations and-"  
"I could tell." Ochako interrupted. He looked over in confusion, "I could tell by the way you were running that you were fixating on the match." She explained.

"Oh." He said, before tentatively continuing, "Well, I was thinking of what strategy we could use. We know that Kacchan is going to be aggressive, so we definitely need to play off of that. He also wouldn't give us time to pull off that thing that we've been working on…." Izuku started muttering up a storm.

"Well, there he goes." Ochako said as Izuku started to mutter.

"And we can't forget about Sero. He works well with Kacchan's aggressive nature, because he can just pull him out if the situation gets bad. So then I came to the conclusion that we just need to take out Sero first. But we can't get close, as Kacchan can just blow us back like he did with you at the sports festival."

"Deku!" Ochako tried to interrupt to no avail.

"So then I was thinking-"

"Earth to Deku!"

"That we could-" It didn't look like he was going to stop.

 _You know what? Screw it._ Ochako took a deep breath and leaned over and planted a kiss on Izuku's cheek. She forced her blush from overtaking her face.

Good news is that it worked. Izuku opened his mouth, but no noise came out. Ochako couldn't help but giggle at his flustered face.

"You were talking too much." She explained simply, "You need to stop worrying so much! I know that whatever we do, it'll work out."

"H-How do you k-k-know?" He stuttered.

"Because I'm with you, silly! When we work together, we can't lose!" She pumped her fist into the air triumphantly.

"But-"

"No buts!" She interrupted, "We'll figure something out at the field! Let's go!"

* * *

A few hours later, Izuku and Ochako were sitting in the preparation room, getting ready for the match. Theirs was the first one of the day, unlike the previous two days. Izuku looked deep in thought.

"We've got this!" She said, trying to pull him out of his brooding state. He gave her a weak smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a knock in the door.

"Match time!" Izuku just nodded to Ochako and the two made their way to the field.

Ochako walked up the staircase with Izuku by her side, and despite the hard match she was in for, she felt unstoppable. She tended to feel that way when she was around Izuku.

She made it onto the large dirt field to see Bakugo already on the other side, scowling. He was staring straight at Izuku. The green haired boy gulped and nodded to Ochako.

"Remember, stay behind me. If this doesn't work, we have to improvise the entire rest of the match." He muttered out of the side of his mouth. Ochako nodded, and stood a good distance behind Izuku.

"Are you ready?" Present Mic called out. Izuku looked up and nodded at the press box.

"Then start!"

The match started instantly with activity, contrary to Izuku and Ochako's last match. Bakugo took off at a sprint straight at Izuku, who had charged up full cowl. Ochako braced herself as Izuku drew back his entire arm, which was crackling with lightning.

"Los Angeles!" He yelled, and his entire right arm thrummed with energy. Bakugo was less than ten paces away now.

" **Smash!** " Izuku threw his arm forward, releasing a blast of wind pressure. Unlike his finger flicks, this punch released _way_ more force. Ochako was standing behind Izuku and was almost knocked off her feet.

Ochako watched as Bakugo was torn off the ground and sent towards the back of the field. The match wasn't over, however. Just before Bakugo sailed out of bounds, a strip of white tape wrapped itself around Bakugo's torso. Sero also attached another strip to the ground, anchoring himself and Bakugo in place.

Izuku stepped back, massaging his right arm. Luckily, Bakugo didn't immediately attack again.

"Well, that didn't work." She said simply.

"No. Bakugo and Sero must have planned that out." He said, grimacing.

"What do we do next?"

"We-" Ochako was interrupted.

"Are you going to fight me, or are you going to sit in the back of the field like a coward?" Bakugo's voice projected across the field. Izuku froze on the spot.

"Deku?"

"What? Are you going to respond, or are you going to be a little bitch about it?" Bakugo's voice boomed.

"Deku, he's just trying to rile you up…" Ochako warned, but she wasn't sure that her words were heard. Izuku's body was frozen, save his arms, which were shaking softly as Izuku clenched his fists.

If there was one thing Ochako knew, it was that she couldn't stand seeing Izuku like his.

"What? Can't take a little shit talk? "Bakugo sneered, "I always such a-"

"Shut up." Ochako said, just loud enough that Bakugo could hear.

"What did you say, round-face?" He called back. Ochako looked up.

"I told you to shut up." She smirked, "Because you never know how to shut that mouth of yours!" Izuku looked over to Ochako, confused, but broken out of his stupor. Across the field, Bakugo looked like he was getting angry.

"What the fuck do you mean, shut up?" Bakugo took an aggressive step forwards.

"What are you doing?" Izuku muttered under his breath.

"Watch. When Bakugo rushes us, go for Sero." She said. The plan was forming in her head, and she hoped it wouldn't work.

"You're coaxing him into _attacking you_. Are you insane?" He asked.

"Probably." She joked, "But I know that you can blow him out of the ring with one shot if Sero isn't there. So, you take out Sero, and I'll be the distraction."

Across the field, Bakugo looked even angrier, "Are you going to answer? I said What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Say. To. Me?" He took another step forwards.

"Ochako, I can't let you do that! He could hurt you!" Izuku protested.

"Does it look like I'm giving you much of a choice?" Before Izuku could respond, Ochako raised her voice and called across the field once more, "I told you to shut your mouth! Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe people don't want to hear what comes out of your mouth?"

Bakugo's face was red with anger, but Ochako wasn't done yet.

"Ever thought about that maybe the world doesn't revolve around you?"

"That's it!" Bakugo roared, letting loose explosions behind him to launch himself forwards, straight at Ochako.

"Deku, now!"Ochako yelled as she ran straight at the blonde haired boy flying towards him. Any worries that Izuku may have had dissolved as he followed orders, flaring up full cowl and dashing for Sero.

Ochako bolted straight at Bakugo, who had his eyes set on Ochako, just like she wanted. At least, they _were_ fixated on her until Izuku's green lightning streaked past them. Bakugo's head turned and followed Izuku's form.

 _No!_ Ochako thought panicked.

" **St. Louis SMASH!** " Izuku called, unleashing a powerful kick that sent Sero flying straight out of bounds.

But just as he did, Bakugo changed directions with a blast, and came up behind Izuku. The green haired boy barely had enough time to turn around before he was met with a massive explosion that sent him flying out bounds as well.

"Deku!" Ochako cried, stumbling to a stop. Her mind flashed back to the alleyway. Bakugo turned back to Ochako, anger on his face.

"It's you and me, round face." He sneered, spitting off to the side. Ochako looked past her opponent to see Izuku planted in the concrete wall, knocked out cold. Hot anger welled up inside Ochako.

Bakugo took off at a leisurely walk towards Ochako. He thought he could just come in and take her out without a problem. Ochako mentally prepared herself.

 _You've practiced this. You've got it._ She told herself, _It's just like floating._ Bakugo was still a fair distance away.

"Just give up! I've already destroyed Deku. Not like you can do much else." He spat. The hot anger that had been stewing in Ochako's stomach welled up.

"You know you were wrong about him right? When you gave him that nickname?" She said.

Bakugo froze.

"You gave him that nickname to make him seem useless…" She laughed in a monotone voice. Anger was in full force in her voice, "But it's kind of Ironic."

"What do you mean, Ironic? That bastard is useless and everyone knows it!" Bakugo took one step forwards.

"Isn't it, though? I mean, if he is really useless, then what does that make you? He's already saved more people than you have." It was smug, but Ochako didn't care.

"What the fuck does that matter?" Bakugo yelled back. He was getting angry.

"If he's useless, then you're worse than that! Deku's already gone out and saved a boy from being murdered by a villian! Then, he saved a _little girl who had been kidnapped and tortured_. What have you done? Get captured by villains and have to be rescued?" It was harsh, but at this point Ochako was fuming. She was _angry_. Bakugo froze at her words. She could see him trembling. She suddenly felt all the more confident.

"But that's none of my business." She immediately changed her direction of gravity, and fell straight towards Bakugo. The boy looked shocked by her immediate speed, and raised his hand to blast her back.

With a jerk, Ochako changed her direction of gravity for a split second to the right so she dodged the blast. She reared her fist back and punched with all the force she had, and with the extra speed from falling into him, threw a punch.

The hit nailed Bakugo in the jaw and sent him reeling. Ochako reversed her direction of gravity, slowing to a stop.

"You fucking-" Bakugo started.

"Why do you treat Deku the way you do?" She interrupted. Bakugo looked up at her, rubbing his jaw from where she hit him.

Granted, she could have sent him flying out of the ring and ended the match then and there, had she used her quirk on him, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she won or lost now. She had things to say, and she was going to say them.

"I treat Deku like that because he deserves it!" Bakugo spat, "Deku has done nothing but get in the way and look down on me! I was supposed to get into Yuuei alone, but he went out and got in just to spite me! Then, he goes out and puts on this face about wanting to help people, but all that does is get in the way of me becoming number one!" Ochako was dumbfounded.

"Are you really that _fucking_ dense?" Ochako yelled. She didn't normally cuss, but at this point, she didn't care. She was _pissed off_. Bakugo leered, staring down Ochako.

"Has it ever occured to you, in your entire life, that other people have dreams too?"

"What the-"

"Deku doesn't want to be a hero so he can spite you, you dumb asshole! HE wants to be a hero so he can help people! He wants to make the world a better place! But what do you want? You just want to be number one, at the expense of others! You tear them down, just to build yourself up!" Ochako was seething with anger. She changed her direction of gravity so she fell straight towards Bakugo. Then again. Twice more. Three times. She layered them on top of another, pulling herself downwards at many times the normal speed of falling.

Bakugo didn't even have time to react as Ochako's foot hit his side with a massive amount of force, and Ochako felt his ribs crack. She pulled herself as Bakugo fell to his knees, clutching his side.

"Why did that bastard…" Bakugo mumbled, "Have to pick fucking Deku? All he does is mess it up! Why not me?"

Ochako had no idea what the blonde was talking about, but his words made her all the more angry.

"Open your eyes Bakugo! Look around you! Does the rest of the world revolve around you?" She gestured to the entire stadium, "Other people have dreams! Other people have things they want to do! Things they want to work for! Is that such a hard concept to grasp?"

Ochako didn't even have to use her quirk. She was able to walk up to Bakugo's kneeling form as he tried to get up, and kick him right in the stomach, causing him to vomit.

"All he does is look down on me…" Bakugo said weakly.

"Deku doesn't look down on you, Bakugo. Do you know what your twisted mind is misinterpreting? Deku _fucking cares about you_. He sees you as a friend, even if you don't." Ochako called. Bakugo staggered to his feet, barely standing but not wanting to give in.

"What the fuck do you care?" He said harshly, "Why do you care what I think about that bastard?"

"I care because Deku is my best friend!" Ochako cried. Tears were brimming at her eyes from a mix of anger and sadness, "If you would just see what was around you, Bakugo! Step out of your delusion for just a moment! Look at your classmates and how much they care about each other! Then look at yourself! Look at how they look at you! That look isn't them looking down on you! That's them being disappointed in you for being such an _asshole_!"

"Fuck you." He said, trying to take a step forwards. Ochako just stepped forwards and socked him in the face, sending him to the ground once more.

"Bakugo, tell me." She said, her voice seething with rage, "Why do you want to be a hero? Don't tell me it's to be number one, because you could go and be a number one villain. What part of you is on the side of the angels, because I have yet to see it." He looked up at her with rage in his eyes, but when he tried to lunge for her, he fell back down, clutching his side.

"When is the last time you fought for someone in need, or for something that wasn't your _damn massive ego_?" When was the last time you saw good in someone instead of malice that wasn't there?" Ochako grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"Does it matter to you at all what it actually means to be a hero? Because Deku wants to be a hero. You want to be number one. There's a difference." She let go of his face, throwing him to the ground.

Bakugo was shaking on the ground, but he managed to stand once more.  
"I'll kill you." He said, limping towards Ochako who was walking away from the boy.

"There's one more thing you need to realize, Katsuki **fucking** Bakugo. It's that using people around you as stepping stones or treating them like garbage makes you completely unworthy of standing by them." She said, throwing every bit of emotion into her voice as she had. He was standing ten paces away from her.

"Bakugo Katsuki, you may become a hero, but you will _never really_ _ **be a hero**_." Ochako said. She layered as many gravitational forces as she could in the direction of Bakugo. The vertigo made her nearly vomit alone, but she powered through it. With a shriek of emotion, Ochako flew at Bakugo, who weakly raised an arm to try to fend her off. Ochako swung her fist, amplified in force by her many instances of gravity on her body. The punch landed and Ochako felt not only Bakugo's jaw crunch, but felt her own bones in her hand crack. Bakugo fell to the ground.

"Bakugo is unconscious! Team Uraraka and Midoriya wins!" Midnight raised her right hand, signifying the end of the match.

* * *

Ochako flexed her hand while sitting in one of Recovery Girl's chairs. Her last punch she had thrown had broken three of her knuckles and sprained her wrist.

But it had been worth it. Someone had needed to put Bakugo in his place, and she felt like she had done a pretty good job at that. She had meant every word she had said to the blonde, as well.

Now, Ochako was sitting in Recovery Girl's office, waiting for Izuku to wake up. Also in the room was Bakugo, who was still unconscious. Sero had woken up a few minutes previous, and left to go watch Tokoyami and Todoroki's match. As much as Ochako wanted to go watch to see who would win, she didn't want to leave without Izuku. It didn't feel right.

"You can leave you know…" Recovery Girl said, "You don't have to stick around." Ochako shook her head.

"I'll wait for Deku to wake up. Thanks though." She responded.

"You really gave him quite the beating, you know." She nodded to Bakugo's sleeping form.

"Someone needed to." was all she said.

"We couldn't hear what you were saying down on the field, but you looked pretty fired up. Did he say something?" Ochako shook her head again.

"He's been saying things for the last year, and I had enough." She said it, like she wasn't going to elaborate, "I will admit, I was pretty angry. I don't usually cuss that much."

"The sweet, innocent, Uraraka? Cussing? I never thought I'd see the day!" She joked. It elicited a small laugh out of Ochako. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Recovery Girl said. A blonde man with a scrawny form walked through the door.

"All Might!" Ochako said, jumping up from where she was sitting.

"Good afternoon, young Uraraka." He greeted her before looking to the two boys that were laying on the hospital beds.

"How are they?" He asked nervously.

"They're just fine! Recovery Girl said that they would be awake soon!" Ochako said cheerily. All Might nodded.

"You really gave Young Bakugo a beating, didn't you?" He said, pressing his fingertips together.

Ochako scowled, "Not without reason." All might nodded once again.

"I'll let you go then. Have a good day, Young Uraraka." All Might said, leaving.

 _He looks much more...nervous than before. Maybe it's his new form?_ She wondered. Her thoughts were interrupted as there was a shuffling of the covers on the bed next to her.

"Deku! You're awake!" She said excitedly, scooching over so she was right next to his bed. He groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Uraraka?" He asked groggily, "What happened?"

"Look to your other side, silly!" She giggled, pointing across him. Izuku looked over at Bakugo's unconscious body and his eyes went wide with shock.

"You won?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yup!" She said happily.

"Uraraka! That's amazing? How did you do it? Did you get hurt?" He asked a flurry of questions.

"Slow down there!" She interrupted him, "I can explain the details later. Just know that I won, and it was all because of you." His mouth opened wide.

"B-because of me? What did I do?" He still seemed to be recovering from the shock.

Her words she had yelled at Bakugo due to sheer anger replayed in her mind.

" _Deku doesn't want to be a hero so he can spite you, you dumb asshole! HE wants to be a hero so he can help people!"_

" _I care because Deku is my best friend!"_

" _Bakugo Katsuki, you may become a hero, but you will never really_ _ **be a hero**_ _."_

The only reason she had said those things is because of how much she cared about Izuku, and it hurt her to see how much Bakugo looked down on him. How much Bakugo had made Izuku hurt for caring about him.

"Just trust me on this. I can explain it later. I think you'll figure it out when the recordings come to the dorms tonight." She said softly. She couldn't properly explain what she had done and said do Bakugo. It was easier for him to see first hand.

"Okay. I believe you." He said with a smile. Ochako's shoulders loosened, "One thing, though. Why did you wait fo-"

Izuku was cut off by the door to the room opening. Mina and Kirishima limped into the room, crashing together onto one of the hospital bed. Kirishima's entire right side of his shirt was burned away, and was limping, leaning on Mina for support. Mina was covered in small burns.

"Woah! Are you guys okay?" Izuku got up out of his hospital bed and rushed over to the couple.

"Yeah, I think. We took a beating, but we at least put up a fight!" Kirishima exclaimed, but he sounded tired.

"You guys look in rough shape." Ochako added. Not only were they covered in small burns, but also bruises littered their bodies.

"Yeah, that's my fault." Mina said nervously, scratching the back of her neck, "I kind of forgot my acid is flammable." She admitted.

"Oh, so your match with Todoroki is already over?" Izuku asked. Both of the others nodded.

"Well, all it means is you and Uraraka have to fight them tomorrow. Good luck!" Mina said with as much energy as she could muster. Izuku gave her a thumbs up in return.

"Good, now that you're awake, get out of my area! I need that bed you were using!" Recovery Girl shooed Izuku and Ochako out of the room, slamming the door behind her before the two even realized what was going on.

Izuku looked at Ochako.

"Want to go back to the dorms?"

"I thought you'd never ask. I'm so tired."

* * *

Katsuki woke up in a hospital bed, and he was alone. He looked around, trying to figure out why he was there.

Then the memories of his fight with Deku and Round-face came flooding back. Katsuki scowled.

 _How could I lose to her? Her and stupid damn-_ he cut himself off. Round face's words echoed in his mind, and he suddenly felt numb.

" _Deku doesn't want to be a hero so he can spite you, you dumb asshole! HE wants to be a hero so he can help people!"_

" _If you want to be number one, you could have just gone and been the number one villain!"_

" _Bakugo Katsuki, you may become a hero, but you will never really_ _ **be a hero**_ _."_

Bakugo's breath caught in his throat.

She couldn't possibly be right, right? She was just trying to get a reaction out of him. He was Katsuki Bakugo! He was the future number one hero! Nobody could seriously say otherwise! Right?

 _Deku isn't all virtuous and shit like she said!_ He told himself. _Right?_

…

 _But then why did All Might pick him over me?_

…

" _When is the last time you fought for someone in need, or for something that wasn't your damn massive ego?"_ her voice echoed in his head again. Bakugo shook his head, wanting the doubts to go away.

Bakugo brought his knees to his chest. He needed time to think.

 _There isn't any way Deku is better than me_

…

 _Right?_

…

What part of him really wanted to be a hero? There was a part there…

…

Right?

Bakugo had a lot to think about. A lot that he didn't want to think about.

For the first time in his life, Katsuki Bakugo cried.

* * *

 _There's that! I took a while to write this. One it was long, and two I wanted to do it right. Bakugo is one of my least favorite characters, but with the right development, he can become one of the best. That's what I'm trying to accomplish here. I hope I started it off right._

 _Anyways, see you soon!_ _ **Don't forget to comment!**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Finale

**The Finale**

 _Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all of the support you guys have been giving me on this story! It really means a absolute ton to me! Anyways, It's the chapter you've all been waiting for. I know I promised a little more than just the finale battle in this one, but that will have to wait till next time. I got a little caught up when writing this fight scene…_

 _ **ALSO: I have been working on a very special project for the week or so. I won't disclose much other than it is going to be going up tuesday this week. I think you'll like it, so be on the lookout for a story on both FFN and Ao3 by me. Only thing I'll say is: I like Pokemon. Do you guys like Pokemon?**_

* * *

Izuku was in shock. The things she had heard Uraraka say, on his behalf. It shocked him to his core. The fact that she cared so much about him that she would go to the point of beating Bakugo to a pulp. The fact that she hadn't given up, even though he had gotten knocked out.

It was inspiring, to say the least. He was glad that Uraraka wasn't with him, because he wouldn't know what to say to her. He was having trouble processing what had happened alone, and it would be much harder with her there. Yet, he knew that he needed to talk to her about it. He needed to discuss why she said what she said.

Not that Izuku was unhappy with a single word that had come out of his friend's mouth, because he was far from sad. He was relieved that someone had _finally_ stood up to Bakugo. The words she used were harsh, sure, but Izuku knew they had needed to be. Nobody up to that point had called Bakugo out on his bullshit, and sugarcoating the issue would have been ineffective.

He was sitting in his room after watching the recording of Uraraka's fight against Bakugo. The way she fought with passion, not giving up or letting up, even when it was obvious she was going to win. It made him proud to call her his best friend.

It was also a wake up call to see Uraraka filled with so much anger. Normally, she was careless and easy-going. Optimistic and happy. But the fire in her eyes when she fought Izuku's childhood friend…

Izuku shook his head to ground himself back to reality. He had to get going to bed. He had a big match the next day. He needed to get rested up so that he could be in prime condition for the finale.

Ochako was back on the practice field at midnight, practicing the new applications of the new aspect of her quirk at around midnight. She had better control over the quirk now, and she could "fly" continuously for nearly a minute before feeling nauseous.

Ochako took a deep breath, preparing to go at it again. While she could get in the air, her control was abysmal, and if she even wanted a shot of fighting while airborne, she would have to need to practice a _lot_ more. With a sigh, she took to the air once more.

Ochako jumped, disabling her gravity for a few moments so that she floated into the air about twenty feet. She slowed herself with a downward instance of gravity (she really needed a new way of saying that). Ochako looked over the city of Tokyo and almost stopped her training on the spot to look over the mesmerizing view.

Ochako shook her head. _No, I can't stay for too long._

Ochako began the song and dance that she had made as an exercise for practicing directional control. She fell to the side, letting herself gain speed, before doubling back in the opposite direction. The exercise was to practice a technique she had been practicing. The point was to have a target at a certain position, and fly back and forth, hitting them with fly-by attacks. It would be more efficient the faster she could go.

She had also practiced this technique indoors, and it had been much more effective. She was able to kick off of the walls to change her direction more quickly. She did not have that luxury most of the time, though, since most of her battles took place in an open area.

Ochako dashed back and forth, changing her direction as fast as she could. It was still slow, and she was still inexperienced, so it still looked sloppy, but it was better than nothing. Ochako let herself fall softly to the ground to recover some energy.

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. As she rested, her thoughts went back to the punch that had broken her hand and Bakugo's jaw.

Somehow, she had layered multiple instances of gravity on herself, causing much more force to go into the punch. Problem was, she hadn't been able to replicate it. No matter how hard she tried, she was only able to change her direction of gravity, not amplify it.

Fully recovered, she decided to have another go at it.

She launched herself into the air, floating in place for a moment once more, looking over the twinkling yellow lights of the city sprawled out below her. The lights were twinkling like stars, like they were luring her in.

Ochako couldn't take it anymore. She had gone night after night after night of flying into the sky, just to see the city from above and do nothing about it. She knew she could fly, in a sense. She just hadn't tried it yet.

"Here we go." She said, steeling herself. With a breath, she changed her direction of gravity and took off towards the city. She felt herself start off slowly, before picking up speed. Wind whipped around her, rippling her clothes. The cold touch grazed across her skin as she kept going faster and faster.

Ochako's hair blew out of her face as the lights of the city streaked below her.

"Haha!" Ochako shrieked with joy. It was _liberating_. She was able to take to the place where nobody else had claim to. The skies were _hers_ to explore. Only when she looked down did she realize how fast she was going.

The lights streaked by faster than she could track them. The wind roared in her ears. The city was hundreds of feet below her, but the clouds were far from close above her, but even those streaked by. Ochako slowed herself and slowly realized something.

She had crossed miles upon miles in the span of a minute or less.

 _New way to travel, huh?_ She joked with herself.

When Ochako touched back down in front of the 1-A dorm building, the land felt like it was a foreign place. Which was ridiculous, since she had only been in the air for all of three minutes. Even so, she couldn't wait until she got the opportunity to take to the skies once more.

* * *

Izuku met Uraraka for a morning run as per usual by this point. They went through the normal routine, going down to the beach, running, then watching the sunrise together. It really was one of the most relaxing things in the world, and not because of the scenery.

Just being able to spend a morning with Uraraka was enough to calm Izuku's nerves. Not only that, but today's match wasn't nearly as stressful for him as the previous day's had been.

"Hey Deku?" Uraraka got his attention as they watched the sun rise over the horizon.

"Hmm?" Izuku hummed.

"You seem more relaxed today." Uraraka mused. Izuku shrugged in response.

"I guess I am. Yesterday's match had a lot of emotional pressure for me, I guess. Today's though, I'm not too worried about." Uraraka gave him a quizzical look, "I mean, it's not like I'm not going to try my best! It's just that I talked with Todoroki last night."

"Oh? What about?"

"It was just him wishing me luck with tomorrow. We don't have any hard feelings between us anymore, and so this is much more of a 'whoever wins wins', you know?" Izuku explained. Uraraka nodded in understanding, looking back to the horizon. They sat in peace for a few moments.

"We can do that thing we've been working on today, right?" Uraraka spoke up.

"If you feel up to it. I mean, it is our last chance, so I don't see why not." Izuku shrugged. Uraraka silently cheered.

Soon enough, the sun was well over the distant waters, signaling Izuku and Uraraka to move on to their quirk practice. They got up and walked in tandem to the field.

* * *

Soon enough, it was time for the finale. The entirety of class 1-A walked to the arena together, all while chattering about the upcoming match. The only person absent was Bakugo.

 _Maybe he's still in the nurse's office?_ Izuku wondered.

"My money's on Midoriya and Uraraka!" Kaminari said, interrupting Izuku's thoughts.

"No way! Todoroki and Tokoyami are totally going to win!" Mina protested.

"Want to bet?"

"How much?"

"Everyone!" Iida interrupted, "It is disgraceful to place bets on our classmates like that!"

"Party pooper." Kaminari mumbled. The class laughed, and continued on their way. Eventually, everyone made it to the arena, and the contestants had to split off from the group that was going to be in the stands.

It was an awkward silence that hung in the air as the two opposing teams walked together to the preparation rooms. Neither wanted to start up a conversation that would last all of the thirty seconds it took for the two to split away.

So, they just walked, each contemplating how to beat the other, until it was time for Todoroki and Tokoyami to go to their room, and Izuku and Uraraka to go to theirs.

"Midoriya." Todoroki interrupted, stopping. Izuku spun around to see Todoroki holding out his hand.

"Good luck." Izuku realized he was holding his hand out for a handshake. Izuku smiled, firmly grasping his friend's hand.

"Good luck!" He said in response.

"Yeah, good luck, you guys!" Uraraka added. Tokoyami just nodded, keeping quiet.

"So, you're sure you can't break the ice block without breaking one of your fingers? You can't just like...flick it or something?" Uraraka asked.

"No. At my current ability level, without my gloves, the wind bullet isn't concentrated enough. If I had my equipment, then maybe, but not without it." Uraraka hummed, thinking.

"And we can't fight of his first attack without it." Izuku added. As powerful as Todoroki was, he was predictable. Everyone knew he was going to start by a massive ice attack.

Uraraka threw her arms up in frustration, "I just wish you wouldn't have to hurt yourself in order to win!" Izuku went over and put his hand on her arm.

"I'll be fine, I promise." In reality, Izuku was worried as well. He knew he shouldn't be destroying his hands for the sake of a fight like this, especially considering the condition of them.

"Will you?" Uraraka said softly, "I just don't want to see you get hurt...I've seen enough." Her expression alone made Izuku reconsider the entire situation. Then, and Idea hit him.

"I might not have to…" He breathed. Uraraka looked at him. "Okay, this is going to sound a bit weird, but hear me out…"

* * *

Izuku and Uraraka walked up the stone staircase with renewed vigor. They had a plan that _didn't_ involve Izuku breaking himself, so that was a plus. They made it onto the field to see Todoroki and Tokoyami on the other side. Izuku raised his hand in salute. Todoroki returned the gesture, causing Izuku to smile.

"Are the contestants ready?" Present Mic yelled. Izuku looked up to the box and gave another nod. Todoroki, instead of giving a confirmation, waved his hands around and the crowd quieted down.

"Do you guys like your green tea hot?" He shot a stream of fire into the air, "Or ice cold?" The crowd roared.

 _Huh?_ Izuku thought.

"Is he talking about us?" Uraraka asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"I think so. Don't know why 'green tea' is us though…" Izuku responded, equally clueless. Todoroki smirked before giving a thumbs up to the press box.

"Some trash talk? That's new coming from the normally quiet Todoroki!" Present Mic said, "Anyways, it's the time you've all been waiting for!"

" **MATCH START!** "

Just as everyone had expected, Todoroki started the match off by taking a step forwards with his right foot, ice collecting and streaking towards Izuku and Uraraka. Izuku went over and grabbed Uraraka by the waist, charging One for All in his legs to twenty percent.

Just as Izuku kicked off the ground, Uraraka activated her Zero Gravity on the both of them. Izuku and Ochako soared into the air, flying at least a hundred feet above the ground, avoiding the gargantuan ice attack easily. Uraraka manipulated their gravity to slow them to a stop so that they didn't go flying out the roof of the arena.

"Phew." Izuku wiped sweat from his brow. Everything had been banking on their ability to dodge that first attack. They had a chance now.

"Umm Deku?" Uraraka said.

"Hmm?"

"You can let go of my waist now." She said. Only then did Izuku realize he had been clutching her against his own body. Panicked, Izuku let go, growing red in the face.

"I'm so sorr-"

"Uraraka and Midoriya take to the skies to avoid the legendary first attack! Now they're where Todoroki and Tokoyami can't touch them!" Present Mic interrupted Izuku's apology.

 _Focus, Izuku… What next._ He looked down, trying to figure out the next course of action. He saw a massive ice sculpture and…

"Wait! Uraraka!" Izuku smirked, "Want to do the thing?" She gave him a quizzical look.

"Here! Just grab onto me again." _as awkward as it is._ Complying, Uraraka grabbed onto Izuku.

"Deactivate your gravity. I'll catch us!" Completely trusting Izuku's judgement, she released them from the skies, letting them fall to the ground. They soared towards the ground, and Izuku charged twenty percent one for all in his finger.

 _Three. Two. one. Now!_ Izuku flicked, and a blast of wind pressure came out of his hand, slowing their fall. The two landed harmlessly on top of the Ice Todoroki had left behind.

"Uraraka! Be ready to activate your quirk on this!" Izuku gestured to the ice they were standing on. She put her hand on flat against it before giving him a nod. She knew what they were doing now.

Izuku charged twenty percent One for All into his leg before slamming his foot into the ice. A large crack spread into the block. Izuku kicked again and the crack lengthened. He kicked again and again, each time weakening the ice.

On the twelfth kick, the ice shattered into hundreds of pieces, but instead of a falling to the ground, the ice chunks floated in the air due to Uraraka's quirk. Izuku and Uraraka fell to the ground, but floating in front of them were hundreds of baseball sized chunks of ice.

Izuku smiled as he saw the looks in Todoroki and Tokoyami's eyes as they realized what was happening. Izuku charged twenty percent One for All into four of his fingers, preparing a flick.

"Special move!" He and Uraraka said in unison.

" **Detroit meteor SMASH!** " Izuku flicked all of his fingers at once, causing the ice to fly at a blinding speed towards their opponents.

Tokoyami threw up Dark Shadow to block the attack, but a particularly large block struck him, sending him flying back, nearly out of bounds. He was able to stop himself though, and he stayed in bounds and threw up Dark Shadow again to the rest of the attack.

Todoroki threw up his left arm.

And the entire field was bathed in orange light. Izuku and Uraraka staggered back from the sheer heat of the attack. The fire cleared, leaving Izuku's eyebrows missing, but the field was soaked in water.

"Todoroki melts the ice attack with a fierce fire blast!" Present Mic screams to the battlefield.

"Not going to be that easy, Midoriya!" Todoroki said from across the field.

"We need to split up. I'll take Todo-" Izuku started.

"No." Uraraka interrupted, "You take Tokoyami. I'll take Todoroki. I can at least distract him long enough for you to get Tokoyami."

"But Todorok-"

"My strategy doesn't work against him, since he has the extra reach of Dark Shadow." She looked Izuku in the eyes, "Deku, just trust me."

Izuku looked Into Uraraka's eyes for a moment, but his decision was easy. "I trust you."

* * *

Ochako walked towards Todoroki on the other side of the battlefield. She was mentally preparing herself.

 _C'mon! You've got this! It's just like practice. It's just like last night._ She told herself.

Across the field, Todoroki realized it wasn't Izuku walking to fight him, but instead it was Ochako. His face was at least a little surprised, unlike his normal neutral expression.

Ochako broke into a sprint just as Todoroki did the same. Todoroki grew Ice across the ground, hoping to freeze Ochako in place.

"Not gonna happen!" She said, jumping into the air and putting her feet under her. She changed her direction of gravity so that she fell directly at Todoroki. She closed the gap much faster than she ought to have been able to by running, and kicked Todoroki in the thigh as she flew past him. She quickly reversed her gravity so that she slowed to a stop, floating a few feet above the ground.

"Since when can you fly?" Todoroki asked.

"It's not flying." She said with a smirk, "More like falling with style.."

Ochako let herself fall towards Todoroki once more, who let out a blast of fire at Ochako. She jerked downwards, narrowly avoiding the fire.

Since Ochako was now low to the ground, she only had one place to hit.

 _Sorry, Momo_ she thought with a grimace as she threw her arm upwards. She fell through the gap in Todoroki's legs and came out the other side.

"Ouch! That was a low blow in more than one way!" Present Mic called out. Ochako felt dirty for that hit, but not too dirty.

Ochako started back her attack again, just like she had in practice. Flying back and forth, hitting Todoroki with each successive fly by. She didn't go unharmed however. She got more than a few scorch marks and even had ice on a few parts of her body. She was running out of juice, as well.

Todoroki also looked like he was tiring as well.

Ochako renewed her attack, falling at Todoroki, but also being ready for an attack to dodge. He raised his arm just like he had before releasing the firestorm earlier.

 _Oh no…_

Ochako saw the fire collect in his palm…

And then a there was a flash of green light in the corner of her vision. Izuku flew in, puching Todoroki in the a powered up hit. Todoroki went reeling, and Ochako forced herself to a stop, else she hit Izuku.

Ochako turned to see Izuku follow up his other punch by reeling his leg back.

"Manchester!" He threw his leg forward before Todoroki could react.

" **SMASH!** " he kicked Todoroki in the face, sending him flying out of bounds.

"Yeah! Deku!" Ochako cheered. She dropped to the ground, deactivating her quirk to give her stomach a rest. Her joy was short lived, however. She saw a blur of black in the corner of her eye.

Tokoyami came out of nowhere, punching Izuku while his back was turner will all the force he could. It wasn't enough to send Izuku flying, but it was enough to knock him off balance.

Right out of bounds.

"Midoriya is out of bounds!" Midnight said to Ochako's horror. She was in a one versus one with Tokoyami.

" _It's just a friendly match"_ Izuku's words echoed in her mind.

"You've got this! I believe in you, Uraraka!" Izuku said from outside of the ring. Just those were enough to both calm down her nerves and pump her up. Ochako raised herself off of the ground slightly, preparing herself for the battle. Her stomach screamed in protest, but she didn't care.

"Good luck, Tokoyami!" She said, pulling herself towards him. He sidestepped her first attack, and Ochako forced herself to a stop. When she turned around, Tokoyami was running right at her, wearing Dark Shadow like a costume.

Ochako pulled herself to the side with a yelp, but Tokoyami had more reach than she was expecting. Dark Shadow's claw shot out from his hand, punching Ochako in the stomach. She doubled over, but changed her gravity so she fell into the air, away from another hit.

Ochako forgot exactly how far Dark Shadow could go, though. The mass shot up, grabbing Ochako by the foot. Ochako yelped again as she was pulled into the ground, where the shock deactivated her quirk. She tried to get up, but just as she did, Dark Shadow wrapped around her arm again, and whipped her around in a circle. Ochako threw up from the mix of stomach pain and the speed she was moving.

 _This is it…_ Ochako realized. Not even changing her gravity could help now.

With one last throw, Ochako went sailing, right across the borderline.

"Uraraka is out of bounds!" Midnight yelled, holding up the flag. Dazed, Ochako looked up, searching for Izuku's eyes, expecting him to be disappointed in her. She lost them the match, after all.

But when she saw Izuku's face, he was smiling. "You did great, Uraraka!" Ochako smiled. Only Deku could make her feel that way. Only Deku could make her feel that fuzzy inside.

"Tokoyami and Todoroki win!" Present Mic yelled. Ochako tried to get up, but her strength failed her, making her collapse back down to the ground.

"Woah, Uraraka! You'll be okay!" Izuku reassured her, rushing to her side, heaving her into a sitting position. Ochako looked into his eyes and felt her stomach fill with butterflies. She felt the ever-constant affection blossom in her stomach.

Ochako was done dancing around feelings. She needed to be with him. She was going to ask him out.

Tonight.

* * *

 _That's it for the tournament! But not the arc! We still got the after party! It'll be great! We will have some 1-A kids doing some party games and some shenanigans will go down. I can't wait! But next up is my personal project that I've been working on! SOOOO that will be up tuesday at 9pm eastern time, so be ready! I can't wait for you guys to read it! Don't worry! Once that project starts, I'll be alternating chapters between that story and this one, so it'll all be well and good!_

 _Anyways, that's enough from me! See ya soon!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Party

**The Party**

 _Hey everyone! I'm sorry that it took so long, but I'm back with another chapter! I took a while to write this one, since i've been dealing with finals which sucks. I've actually been working on another project at the same time as well, that just came out last week. I teased it a little last chapter, but I finally put out the first one! It's a pokemon AU. I really enjoy writing it, and it is a more long-term fic, and the chapter lengths are about double that of this one. I'll drop a link here! It would really mean a lot to me if you dropped by and read it! Anyways, here it is!_

 _Link to Pokemon AU: FFN(Replace DOT with '.'): s/12922515/1/Boku-No-Pokemon-Academia -_

 _AO3(Replace DOT with '.'): archiveofourownDOTorg/works/14509134/chapters/33520971_

* * *

Izuku helped Ochako to Recovery Girl's office. Ochako insisted she was okay, but her point was instantly disproved by a wave of nausea when she tried to stand. It was a long walk, but Ochako really didn't mind. It was time she got to spend with Izuku, and that was enough.

They stumbled into Recovery Girl's office, where Ochako collapsed onto a bed. Izuku took the seat directly adjacent to it.

"I saw you two fight. You did exceptionally well. Especially considering Izuku didn't break himself this time." Recovery Girl teased, causing a blush to spread across Izuku's cheeks. He nervously scratched the back of his neck.

Ochako laid on the bed until Recovery Girl came over and gave her a dose of pain medication and something to reduce her stomach ache. "You should only need to lay here until that kicks in. Then, you should be free to go." She informed her, stepping out of the room.

Ochako leaned back, staring at the ceiling as she waited for the medication to kick in. Only when she heard some shuffling next to her did she realize that Izuku was still in the room.

"You don't have to wait around, you know." She said, "The others are probably waiting for you, you know."

"Yesterday, you waited for me to wake up before you left. It's the least I can do." Izuku retaliated.

 _He has a point._ Ochako shrugged mentally.

"Plus, even if you hadn't done that yesterday, I would still stick around." Izuku mumbled. Ochako smiled. Of course Izuku would stick around.

"I'm glad."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, until something came to Ochako's mind.

"Hey, Deku?" She got his attention.

"Hmm?" He hummed. Ochako took a deep breath. The room was quiet enough that she could hear every one of his breaths.

"I wanted to ask you something." She heard Izuku's breath stop, as if he were holding it.

"Y-Yeah?" He said, voice a bit shaky.

"Well, now isn't a good time. Can I ask you later? It is important, I promise." In Ochako's mind, a hospital room wasn't the greatest of places to confess.

"S-sure."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, and Ochako eventually felt the medicine kick in. She sat up with a groan. Izuku rushed over, grabbing her shoulder to steady her.

"I'm alright, Deku. Ready to go back to the dorm rooms?" Izuku nodded.

"I heard there's going to be an after party to celebrate the winners." Ochako got up off the bed and made for the door, Izuku trailing just behind her.

"Who's throwing it?" Ochako asked. Izuku shrugged.

"The whole class, I think." He tilted his head, "I'm surprised they got that by Iida…" Ochako snickered a little bit.

"I bet they didn't. Watch, the entire time, Iida is going to be running around making sure everyone is not doing anything bad." Izuku thought for a moment, before breaking into laughter.

"Haha! I can just imagine him doing that." Izuku laughed as they turned a corner. They walked the rest of the way to the dorms enveloped in conversation, mostly speculating what Iida would be doing at the party. They loved their blue-haired friend, but he could be a little much sometimes.

* * *

They finally made it back to the dorms, where they opened the door. The main level was already a disaster area. To start off, the entire kitchen was chaotic, with people running all around the place frantically, all whilst smoke came out of the oven.

"Get the fire extinguisher!" Kaminari yelled, running around with his hands on the sides of his head.

"No! Just get Todoroki, you dolt!" Kirishima yelled back, fanning the smoke away from the oven. Izuku broke off from Ochako, rushing over to see what was the matter.

"What happened?" Izuku asked. Kirishima looked up and smiled.

"That was a super manly fight! Great job!" Kirishima congratulated, "And as for this...well, Kaminari tried to cook garlic bread. Turns out he hit one too many zero's when setting the temperature and set the oven to four thousand degrees instead of four hundred."

Izuku just looked inside the oven. Sure enough, on the inside was a black lump, which he assumed _used_ to be garlic bread, emanating smoke.

"I got Todoroki!" Kaminari yelled, dragging the champion by the arm. Todoroki just let himself be yanked over to the oven. He placed his right arm on the stove, filling it with ice. The people in the kitchen cheered.

Izuku decided to look around the rest of the room to see what was going on. A few of the girls from the class were huddled around a chair talking, some people were drinking sodas in a corner, some people were playing a board game in a different corner. Then, something caught Izuku's eye. Hooked up to the TV was a gamecube, and on the screen, Tokoyami and Jiro were playing Super Smash Bros Melee.

Izuku felt his legs carry him over to the console before he even knew what was going on.

"I play winner." Izuku said. Tokoyami looked away from the screen for a moment, and saw Izuku. He only silently nodded. The match was tied, two stocks to two stocks. Tokoyami was playing as Falco, and Jiro was playing as Marth.

Izuku watched the battle with veteran's eyes as Tokoyami traded a stock with Jiro, but then taking the final stock with a combo. Jrio threw down the controller, but shook Tokoyami's hand.

"Good Game." She said begrudgingly, before turning to Izuku, "He's good. Watch yourself." Izuku nodded in acknowledgement.

He picked up the controller, and instantly felt more at home than he ever had at the dorm rooms. He flicked through a couple button combos, getting used to the controller once more. Tokoyami looked to Izuku, like he was asking if he was ready. Izuku nodded, and Tokoyami brought up the character select screen.

Izuku could do it in his sleep by now. The second to last slot on the top row, all the way on the right. Captain Falcon.

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow, which Izuku ignored. Tokoyami chose falco once again, and selected Final Destination as the stage.

Izuku watched as the characters loaded into the stage, and he was back in his childhood once more. The buttons in his hands felt so familiar. It was the type of muscle memory that never went away.

Izuku started off the battle by dashing straight at Tokoyami, shielding perfectly in sync with Falco's ranged attacks. Izuku started the combo, buttons falling into place at just the right times. It all came rushing back as the percentage stacked up. Twelve, twenty, forty five, seventy. Izuku ended the combo with a devastating up-smash, claiming Tokoyami's first stock without taking a single hit of damage.

The second stock went nearly as fast. As soon as Falco was able to be hit again, Izuku locked him into a chain grab, racking up damage without his opponent being able to stop it at all. Tokoyami was about to get out, but Izuku performed a shield break, making Falco stationary on the field.

"Detroit Smash!" Izuku muttered, just for the joke of it, as Captain Falcon performed a Falcon Punch, launching his opponent off the map.

 _Two more to go._ Izuku thought. He still hadn't taken any damage.

"Yo! Holy Shit!" Kirishima said from behind Izuku. The green-haired boy barely even noticed it. His mind was in his fingers, and his fingers were playing the game. Izuku felt like he heard more talking and shuffling behind him, but didn't pay much mind to it.

Izuku took the third stock by throwing Tokoyami off the cliff edge, then getting a perfectly timed edge guard, knocking Tokoyami away. Izuku jumped off the edge, hit falco with a down-smash, killing him, then jumping back up to the platform.

There was some ooo's and aah's from behind Izuku. He didn't have time to look at who was watching. All he needed to focus on was winning without taking damage.

Izuku saw something yellow come out of his peripheral vision as Tokoyami started to respawn. Izuku realized it was Kaminari, walking straight towards the TV, looking down at his phone. It he blocked Izuku's vision, it may mean him taking damage.

"Wai-" Izuku started, but Kirishima beat him to it.

"Get down, Electro-dolt!" Kirishima yelled, flying over the couch. Izuku saw Kaminari get tackled to the floor by someone with spiky red hair just as Tokoyami respawned. Izuku was able to block another barrage of lasers, before racking up some damage with a chain grab, before throwing him off the cliff.

Izuku ended it all with a edgeguard by Falcon Punching just as Tokoyami was about to grab the ledge. The game ended, four to zero, Izuku having taken no damage. Izuku put down the controller, stretching his hands.

Izuku looked behind him to see at least twelve of the people from the class looking at him in shock. They looked between the scoreboard and Izuku, shell shocked. Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously.

The silence was broken by Jiro. "Hey I want next!"

"No me!"

"I want to try!"

With one simple game, Izuku had set himself up for playing against nearly every single person in class 1-A. Match after match came, and Izuku was blowing through his competition. He took some damage to some of his opponents, but he never lost a stock.

"Midoriya is a god among men!" Kirishima cried as he lost. Mina's pink hand rested on Kirishima's shoulder as she jumped over the couch, snatching the controller from her boyfriend's hand.

"My turn!" she said, selecting Jigglypuff.

The match started with how Izuku normally did. He rushed at his opponent hoping to get an early combo off. He got a few hits in, but unlike his other opponents so far, Mina was able to shield at just the right time to stop his combo.

The fight went on, and Izuku actually took some damage. Mina was by far the most competent of his challengers. Izuku went in for another combo and…

Next thing he knew, Captain falcon was off the map.

"A rest kill? What!" The crowd cheered at Izuku losing a stock for once. Izuku cracked his neck as he respawned, steeling himself.

Izuku took one of Mina's stocks, and then they traded. It was 2-2, and Izuku was beginning to become worried. Was his reign of terror going to end?

Turns out the answer was no. Izuku took one of Mina's stocks with a deadly combo before denying her the victory with a stock trade.

"Ugh!" Mina groaned, "I thought I had you there for a while." She shook Izuku's hand reluctantly.

"Midoriya may have not won the tournament, but at least he's the king of _something_." Kaminari joked, before being punched in the shoulder by Jiro.

"At least he got further than you did." She teased, causing Kaminari to grumble.

The party went on for a little while longer without much happening. Declaring Izuku as the 'God of Smash', everyone swapped out the game and console to the Halo series. Izuku tried a few matches, but got stomped by Kirishima, so he decided to take a break away from the video games.

He walked into the kitchen to grab a drink of punch, but as soon as he turned the corner, he nearly ran into Iida, who was walking around at a rapid pace.

"My apologies, Midoriya!" Iida said as he blew by Izuku, "I must make sure nobody is up to activities that are unbefitting of a hero!" Izuku just watched Iida jog around, waving his arms in fantic motions.

Izuku couldn't help but snicker at his friend's ridiculous behavior. _Some people never change_ he thought to himself. Izuku turned back towards the kitchen and froze.

Standing at the tap, filling up a glass with water, was Bakugo. His posture was slumped and his clothes looked like he threw them on only to come downstairs. Not only that, but his hair was a mess and...were his cheeks red?

Izuku took a step forwards to ask him what was wrong, but the sound of him moving caused Bakugo's head to snap towards him. What Izuku saw unnerved him.

Bakugo always had a certain...look in his eyes. A look of confidence, or that he was looking down on you. He tended to sneer and have a look of anger permanently plastered on his face.

None of that was on his face right now. His eyes were softer, almost as if they weren't looking right at Izuku, but rather, through him. The intense look on his face was completely missing, instead replaced with a certain dullness. It was shocking to say the least.

The moment Bakugo saw Izuku, he spun around, not even bothering to turn off the tap. He was out of the room, going up the stairs before Izuku even knew what was going on. Izuku moved to chase him, "Kacch-"

"Midoriya, get in here! We're playing a game!" Kaminari yelled from the other room. Izuku gazed down the path Bakugo had left to.

 _I can talk to him later_ Izuku surmised, turning off the tap and walking into the other room. About half the room was sitting in a large circle, while the other half sat off to the side, watching.

"We're playing spin the bottle!" Kirishima said, "Wanna join?"

"Spin the bottle?" Izuku asked, confused. Everyone blanched at him.

"Have you seriously never heard of spin the bottle?" Izuku shook his head. Kirishima took a deep breath.

"Basically you sit in a circle and spin a bottle. Whoever it points to when it stops spinning you have to kiss." He said. As soon as he heard the last part, Izuku threw his arms up, blush blatant on his face.

"N-no thanks!" He said, joining the outside of the circle.

Mina snickered, "See, told you he wouldn't do it."

The circle consisted of Kaminari, Kirishima, Jiro, Mina, Momo, Toru, Ojiro, Sero, Tsu, Mineta (Unfortunately), and…

"Iida?" The blue-haired boy looked up, "Why are you playing spin the bottle?"

"I am simply doing my duty as class representative! I was told by not participating, that I am distancing myself from those I am responsible for, and I cannot do that!" Iida explained, eliciting a laugh from Izuku. The boy was extraordinarily dedicated to his job.

Izuku joined Uraraka, Tokoyami and Todoroki on the outside of the circle, where they could safely watch the happenings.

The game started with Kirishima spinning the bottle. It went around a few times, and luckily for him, landed directly on Mina. The pink girl smiled and pecked her boyfriend on the lips quickly.

"Aww!" Uraraka cooed from next to Izuku, causing Izuku to blush at realizing how close she was to him. He forced himself to push past his embarrassment and watch the game.

"Alright my turn!" Toru said, grabbing the bottle before anyone else had a chance to. Izuku could hear her soft muttering as she waited for the bottle to come to a halt.

"Ojiro. Ojiro. Ojiro." She chanted. Izuku decided to ignore it, not wanting to feel even more awkward by acknowledging it. The bottle spun to a stop, and once again it landed on Sero.

"Damn." She said under her breath before sighing, "Well, let's get it over with," She said, moving from her spot on the carpet, she made her way over and leaned over, where Sero met her face. She pulled away with a groan.

"That was my eyeball, not my lips you dummy!" She exclaimed, causing an eruption of laughter from everyone, including Tokoyami, who simply chuckled softly. Even that was rare from his birdlike friend.

The game on for a little while longer. Iida got picked by Momo, but politely declined, claiming that it would "harm their working environment" because they were the two class representatives. There was an awkward kiss between Tsu and Mina, and one between Ojiro and Kirishima.

"Finally! My turn!" Mineta practically screamed, grabbing the bottle before anyone could stop him.

Tsu grumbled, "We should have kicked him from the very start."

"Too late now!" he said, spinning the bottle, chanting all the while, "Please give me someone good!"

The bottle went around and around, everyone holding their breaths. It started slowing, passing three people before coming to a stop...halfway between Kaminari and Jiro.

"I don't care! It's close enough!" Mineta screamed, throwing himself across the circle, "It's finally my chance!"

Jiro groaned, getting her earphone jacks ready to stab him. Just at the last moment, Kaminari threw himself in front of Jiro, catching Mineta's lips on his own. Mineta jumped back as if he had been burned.

"What the hell! It was totally on her, not you!" Mineta said, staggering away.

"I don't know what you're talking about. It was definitely me." Kaminari said, smirk on his face. Jiro turned to him, giving a silent thanks. Kaminari just smiled.

Just then, Uraraka poked Izuku's side, causing him to look over.

"Hmm?" He hummed as the game continued.

"Could we go get a drink of punch?" She asked. Izuku had already gotten some earlier, but his answer was immediate.

"Sure thing."

The two walked over to the kitchen, and Izuku's thoughts flashed back to the state he had seen Bakugo in.

 _I'll worry about that later._

When Uraraka didn't stop at the punch bowl, Izuku was confused.

"Wait, I thought you wanted punch!" Izuku protested.

"That was just an excuse to get away." She said, opening the door that led to the staircase, "Follow me."

Izuku didn't have much of a choice. He could either go back to the game and feel even more awkward now that Uraraka wasn't there, or he could follow her instructions and follow her up the stairs.

He ran after her, catching up after a few seconds. They went up flight after flight until Uraraka went to the staircase that led to the roof.

"Why are we going to the roof?" Izuku asked, grabbing her arm to stop her frantic flight up the staircase.

"You remember how I wanted to ask you something earlier?" Izuku nodded, remembering her earlier decision to wait fo a better time, "That."

Now slightly more curious, Izuku followed Uraraka out the door onto the roof. He was met with a dark sky filled with stars and a cool breeze in his hair. Uraraka pulled Izuku over to the ledge, opting to sit on it and dangle her feet off the edge.

They sat for a while in silence, neither wanting to start the conversation. They looked at the other dorm buildings and at the street far below. Izuku had to admit, it was quite relaxing to get away from the crazy party for a little while.

"It really is nice up here." Izuku finally said, "The breeze is cool and refreshing." Uraraka nodded before letting out a little giggle.

"What? Are you laughing at me?" He asked.

"No. Well, kind of."

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"No, I just think it's kind of cute." At that, Izuku's entire face flushed pink. Of course she could make him flustered instantly.

"W-What's cute?" Izuku stuttered. Uraraka giggled again.

"I just think it's cute you see this as so impressive It's actually kind of ironic, actually." She said.

"Ironic?" Izuku tilted his head.

"That's actually what I came up here to show you." She said, standing up from the ledge, pulling Izuku with her, still red-faced and blushing. She placed Izuku's arm on her hip and grabbed onto his arm tightly.

"Whatever you do, don't let go." She said.

"Don't let-Ahh!" Izuku yelled as he was suddenly lifted off the ground. He kept flying into the sky, like gravity was pushing him away from the ground instead of pulling him towards it. Only then did he realize that Uraraka was lifting them into the air.

"Haha!" She giggled at Izuku's momentary panic. They flew into the sky for a few moments longer before slowing to a stop.

"Now _this_." Uraraka gestured below her, "Is a view."

Izuku was shocked by the sight. Sprawled out below him, like dots on a map, was the city of Tokyo. The street lights lit up the area, each light like a grain of sand on the beach. In the distance the waves rolled into the beach, water almost black due to the time of night. It was the sight of a lifetime.

"It's...beautiful." Was the only thing Izuku could get out of his mouth. Uraraka just nodded.

"And you can come up here whenever you want?" Uraraka just nodded again. Izuku turned back to the view before him, absorbing as much of it as he could into his brain. Izuku turned to Uraraka, and that made it all so much better.

The view alone was enough to make this one of the most rememberable moments of his life. Now seeing that he was experiencing that with Uraraka, his best friend, His first _real_ friend, touched Izuku even more. He could feel the tears tugging at his eyes.

Izuku looked at the scene for a moment before he felt Uraraka tense up and take a deep breath.

"Hey Deku?" She asked. Izuku turned and looked at her. Her face was soft and she looked nervous.

"Yeah?"

"Can I say something?" He nodded eagerly. Uraraka grabbed his arm and spun him so that they were directly facing each other. Uraraka took another deep breath, and Izuku could feel her hand tighten around his arm.

"You know why I said those things to Bakugo, right?" She finally said. Izuku looked at her with concern in his eyes. Why was she bringing this up now?

"Well, kind of. Do you want to tell me why?" He asked. He wasn't stupid. He could get context clues that that was what she wanted to talk about. Uraraka nodded, breath shaky.

"I told him those things because...because I really care about you, Deku" Izuku opened his mouth, but Uraraka cut him off, "You're my _best_ friend. Out of all the people that I've met here at Yuuei, you're the one I care about the most. I look up to you and your amazing determination to becoming a hero. I always wish I could be like you. And I hate it when you get hurt. Whether it be when you break yourself to save someone, or when someone like Bakugo hurts you emotionally when you care about them."

Izuku couldn't bring himself to find words. He also had a feeling Uraraka wasn't finished yet.

"I know it's cheesy and I know that you may not believe me, but Deku, you are my hero. It's been that way since the first time you saved me at the entrance exam. I can't find any other way to put it. Then when you got hurt by that villain in the alleyway and…" She trailed off. Izuku could see the tears forming in her eyes. She was getting all worked up, over him.

So Izuku did the only logical thing that came to mind. He pulled Uraraka into a tight hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She stiffened for a moment before loosening up, allowing Izuku to hug her. Only after he was holding her did she realize how much she needed it. All the pent up emotions were breaking free.

Izuku held Uraraka until she broke away from the hug, but neither let go of each other. Izuku felt a little awkward, but at this point he didn't care. His friend needed him, so he would be there.

"There's...something else." Uraraka said after an eternity. She took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Izuku asked innocently.

Uraraka steadied herself. Now was the perfect moment, and she would not allow herself to turn back. It was now or never.

"I've actually been holding this inside for a while. A long time actually. I've never really wanted to say it, because I thought it would get in the way of our hero work, but now I don't care anymore. I've held it in for a while, and it's been killing me." Uraraka took a deep breath, steadying herself to continue, "Deku, I like you." She said it softly, but Izuku could still hear it clearly.

 _Does she mean…?_ Izuku instantly went into denial, _No, she just means like best friends, right?_

"Like, really really like you. Like romantically." Uraraka just came out and said it, throwing all of Izuku's inner worries out the window. "All those things I admire about you, they've turned into..something more. I just can't keep it in. It's been so long and I just had to get it out. I really like you, Deku."

Izuku started to panic internally. _Wait...she likes me back? No way this is happening. No way no way…_ Miraculously, Izuku was able to keep it together on the surface. Izuku's own inner panic must have made him pause for a second too long, because Uraraka started to take his pause as a bad sign.

"Oh no. I didn't mess something up did I?" She started to tear up, "Of course. Just like you thought would happen. You've gone and-" Uraraka was cut off by Izuku grabbing her into a hug once more. Uraraka gasped slightly in surprise.

Izuku was only able to snap out of his panic because he saw how he was affecting Uraraka. He separated slightly from the hug slightly and looked Uraraka in the face. He cupped Uraraka's face in his hands.

He stared into her eyes, mesmerized by the starry look in her irises.

"Did I ever tell you...how beautiful your eyes are?" Uraraka gasped, putting a hand against her chest, and he could see her eyes watering once again. Izuku didn't know what elicited that reaction, but those words obviously meant something to her.

Izuku rolled his thumb across her cheek, staring into her eyes. His eyes drifted downwards slightly and caught sight of her lips.

Izuku didn't know what came over him. One moment he was looking into Uraraka's eyes, drinking in her presence, the next he was leaning forwards. Izuku pushed his lips lightly against Uraraka's in a short, yet meaningful kiss. Where words couldn't prevail, actions had to.

Izuku pulled away, feeling uncharacteristically confident. Maybe it was that he was with Uraraka alone. Like her presence invigorated him. "I like you too, Ochako. God, I've liked you for a long time."

Uraraka looked into Izuku's eyes, processing what he had just said. When she finally did, tears formed at the corners of her eyes, but these weren't sad tears.

"D-did I say something wrong?" Izuku stuttered out, back in character. Uraraka shook her head slightly.

"No. You said everything just right."

Uraraka threw herself forwards, enveloping Izuku's lips in another kiss. It was the kiss they would both remember for a lifetime. Alone, floating above Tokyo, paying attention to nothing but each other.

* * *

 _There it is! I hope you enjoyed it, and it is worth the wait! Now, I have something VERY important to ask._ _ **Everyone should read it and tell me in the reviews/comments. From here, I can either continue the story but have it more spaced out chapters (I want to work on some other projects), or I can make a sequel. Right now, I am at a point where I could end this story with an epilogue and move on to a sequel that os after a time skip. That is what I'm leaning towards now, and I already have a title if that is what you guys would want to see. Don't worry, it would still be this fic just under a different title.**_

 _ **Tell me what you think!**_

 _Anyways, no matter what, I'll see you in the next one!_


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